It was eight o’clock in the morning. Outside, it was dreary and dull, which only dampened Kiara’s mood even further. Ugh, I hate Mondays, she thought. She pulled herself out of bed and put her clothes on. She wore black Capri pants and a white T-shirt. She put on her black ninja shoes and shuffled downstairs. She walked into the kitchen to see her mother already there, preparing a pot of coffee.
When Nami heard footsteps, she turned around to see her beloved eight-year-old daughter standing in the doorway. “Good morning, honey. Are you excited for today? It’s your first day at the Academy.”
“I don’t know, I guess. You guys pretty much taught me everything I need to know anyway,” Kiara greeted. She walked over to her mother to stand beside her.
“Yes, but you still don’t know what type of ninja you want to be,” Nami reminded.
“Yeah, I know,” Kiara replied. “I just hope Zuko’s in my homeroom.”
Immediately, Kiara saw her mother stiffen. Her facial features deepened to show her age. Kiara’s parents were retired ninja. They were both in their forties when Kiara was born, making her a miracle.
Kiara’s parents were both extremely kind. But whenever it came to Zuko and Shierra Leola, Nami instantly became tense and disgusted at the thought of them. Kiara could never understand why; they were her best friends.
“Mom, why do you hate Zuko and Shierra?” Kiara asked innocently.
Nami sighed. As much as she was revolted by the Leola children, she could not tell her daughter why. She couldn’t tell her that Shierra held the Nine-Tailed Wolf inside of her. She was too young to understand. “I just…don’t like that they live here for free,” she lied. “I can’t wait until they can pay for their stay like everyone else.”
“Mom, Zuko is only eight like me,” Kiara reminded. “They won’t be paying for anything for a while.”
“Alright, alright, I know,” Nami chuckled. She placed a tray with two burnt pieces of toast in front of Kiara. “Here, when you’re ready, give this to them.”
Kiara watched as her mother exited the kitchen and toward the front door to retrieve the newspaper. As soon as Nami was out of sight, Kiara began to scramble through the cabinets, looking for anything else to eat. The eight-year-old girl knew who her mother was referring to when she said ‘them’. The Leola kids. And two burnt pieces of toast…it was sad, really, especially since Nami was a great cook. But she purposely burnt the toast because she didn’t like the two kids.
Finally, the blonde child found two cinnamon granola bars and a banana. She quickly placed them on the tray and took the food upstairs. As she walked down the hallway, she nearly walked right into someone turning a corner. Her father.
“Good morning Kiara,” Mushi greeted happily. Then he noticed the daily tray of food for the two children. And it was a tad too much food than Nami would’ve given them. Mushi smiled. “You’re such a sweet girl,” he whispered.
Kiara smiled and continued on toward her destination. When she reached the room, she knocked first before entering. Inside the small room, she saw Zuko putting on his black ninja shoes. He was wearing a red T-shirt with a black hooded jacket on top. Shierra was staring groggily at the wall, still in her pajamas.
When Zuko noticed the blonde standing at the doorway, he smiled. “Good morning, Kiara.” He reached up to brush his black hair with his hand to look more presentable. But it was no use, because his unruly hair could no way be tamed.
“Morning,” she greeted. She placed the tray of food on the dresser the two siblings shared. “I was able to sneak you guys some more food this morning.”
“Yay!” Shierra exclaimed cheerfully. She jumped out of bed and bounded over to the food in the adorable way only a five-year-old could pull off. Her raven-colored hair bounced up and down behind her as she ran.
“I’m gonna go down and have breakfast. Then we can walk to the Academy together, Zuko,” Kiara said.
“Sure,” Zuko replied.
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At the Ninja Academy, groups of children were bunched everywhere. Parents stood off to the side, observing their own children. Kiara and Zuko walked up together by themselves. Mushi and Nami had to stay at the hotel to serve their guests.
“I think we’re supposed to go over there,” Zuko pointed to a group of children that were their age.
“Okay,” Kiara nodded as she followed the boy.
As Zuko and Kiara huddled toward the other kids, they could hear everyone introducing themselves to the other kids. One kid with lopsided brown hair and black sunglasses walked up to the new pair. He was wearing navy blue pants and a black T-shirt with a green vest on top. Black sunglasses shielded his eyes.
“What’s up? I’m Nuka Zabini,” the boy greeted.
“Zuko Leola.”
“Kiara Tati. What’s up with the sunglasses? It’s not even sunny out.” She pointed up at the cloudy sky to emphasize her point.
The boy named Nuka stared at the blonde girl as if she was insane. “They make me look cool. Duh!”
“They most certainly do not make you look cool. They make you look like a dork,” a female voice said. Everyone turned around to see a girl with long brown hair pulled into a ponytail. She had soft brown eyes. She was wearing a baby blue T-Shirt with navy blue pants.
Nuka glared at the girl through his sunglasses. “No one asked you. Geez, first we’re neighbors, and now you have to follow me around!”
The girl ignored him. “Hi, I’m Hatani Sanjay. You’ve already met my annoying neighbor.”
“I am Kiara Tati.”
“I’m Zuko Leola.”
Somewhere, not too far off, the group of four heard a scoff. “Ugh, Leola?”
The group turned around to see a boy with red hair standing behind them. Zuko raised an eyebrow at him. “Do I know you?”
“You’re that loser who has no parents,” the boy evaded the question by insulting Zuko. “Plus, your sister’s a monster.”
“Excuse me?” Zuko asked.
“You heard me,” the boy replied. “You’re an orphan with a creature for a sister.”
“What did you say?!” Zuko growled. He lunged for the kid. How dare he insult me and Shierra when he doesn’t even know us! he thought harshly.
Luckily, Nuka was there to hold Zuko back. “Hold it there, buddy. Just ignore him. Redhead over there has no life.”
“The name is Niiro,” the boy scoffed again.
“What do you have against Zuko and Shierra? You don’t even know them,” Kiara countered.
“I happen to know for a fact that no one cares for those two,” Niiro said. “That’s why they were left on the streets.”
Zuko stopped struggling against Nuka’s hold on him. Visions of the parents he once knew encircled his mind. He could only remember blurs of his past, and for the life of him, he could not remember his parents’ faces. The red-headed boy hit a nerve, and Zuko was almost prepared to break down right then and there.
The other three friends immediately sensed this. “Zuko, are you alright?” Hatani asked gently as she walked over to look at Zuko. The raven-haired boy ignored her comment.
“Hey, c’mon dude, don’t listen to him,” Nuka tried cheering the boy up. “He’s not even worth listening to.”
Still, Zuko did not pay attention. He was only thinking about the memories of that year alone with his sister. We were alone…I couldn’t do anything to help us. We sat there on the street everyday…I couldn’t help us, Zuko thought to himself.
Kiara, Nuka, and Hatani were getting worried because he wasn’t saying anything.
“Hehe, pathetic,” Niiro smirked. He turned to walk away.
Kiara hated seeing her friend like this. She could feel the anger boiling inside her as she looked at the redhead’s retreating form. She stomped after him. “Hey, Niiro!” she called loudly, getting the other children’s attention.
“What?” the boy replied harshly.
“No one talks to my friend like that,” Kiara growled at the boy.
“Heh, what are you? His girlfriend?” Niiro asked.
“I’m his friend, and there is no way that I’m going to let you get away with talking to him like that,” Kiara spat.
“What is a girlie like you going to do about it?” Niiro asked mockingly.
Kiara narrowed her eyes at him. Then, with speed like no other, she slapped him right on the cheek. The smack could be heard all around the yard. Luckily for Kiara, the parents had left to go talk to the teachers.
Kids gathered around to see Niiro gently touch his red cheek. He flinched as his fingers burned the hand-shaped mark on his cheek. But of course, being the tough guy, Niiro was not about to back down.
“Heh, it figures that a girl like you could only pull off that,” Niiro said stubbornly. “You got in a lucky shot.”
At first, Kiara’s eyes widened at the boy’s too-proud-to-care-about-you attitude. Then she narrowed her eyes again. This time, she stomped her foot on his own, causing him to shriek in pain.
“Yow!” he called as he gripped his foot in pain. He was now hopping around like an idiot with a red mark on his cheek and his foot screaming in pain.
Just to add the cherry on the sundae, Kiara lifted her leg and kicked Niiro in the stomach, causing him to fall to the ground. When the redhead was lying on the ground, Kiara leaned in closer to him.
“Don’t forget, if you decide to tease my friend again, I have a lot more tricks that I can use to take you down again,” Kiara hissed. “Got it?” Niiro quickly nodded his head in fear. “Good!” Kiara smiled as she turned away to walk back to her friends.
Hatani was the first to congratulate her. “Nicely done. I’m always a fan of feminine power.”
“Thanks,” Kiara grinned.
Nuka’s eyebrows were raised so high that they almost reached into his hairline. “Holy… freaking…crap. That…was so hot!”
Kiara stared at him uncertainly. “Thanks…I guess.”
Hatani slapped her hand in the back of Nuka’s head. “Shut up, you dork!”
Nuka clutched the back of his head in pain. “Ow! What was with the slap?!”
“Stop flirting all the time!” Hatani yelled.
Zuko slowly walked up to his blonde friend. “Thanks…for standing up for Shierra and me.”
“You know I’d do anything for you guys,” Kiara smiled.
“Excuse me,” a voice said. The group of four turned around to see a boy their age. He had chestnut brown hair and blue eyes behind his glasses. “Let me just say…that was very impressive. I’m Sokka Subeta.”
“Thank you,” Kiara replied. “I’m Kiara Tati. These are my friends, Zuko Leola, Nuka Zabini, and Hatani Sanjay.”
“Nice to meet you all. I almost can’t wait to see what you can do in class,” Sokka said to Kiara.
Kiara chuckled nervously. “Heh, actually, I’m not all that into fighting. I’d rather keep that to a minimum.”
“Really? Because it certainly didn’t seem that way when you were beating that jerk up,” Sokka said.
“I want to specialize in a certain unit of shinobi, but I don’t know what,” Kiara replied honestly. “I certainly don’t want to beat guys up all the time like I just did.”
“Well, you certainly just gained the reputation of one of the scariest girls in our grade now,” Nuka said. “You know, right behind Hatani.”
Hatani chose to ignore that comment. “Whatever Kiara wants to do, she can do.”
“Well, you certainly have the ninja motto of protecting others in your heart,” Zuko commented.
“Sounds like a medical ninja to me,” Sokka said.
“Medical ninja, huh?” Kiara repeated.
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“So honey, how was your first day of school?” Nami asked as Kiara and Zuko walked through the front door. Zuko was walking upstairs while Kiara went into the living room to sit with her parents for a bit.
“It was good. I learned a lot,” Kiara said. She had decided not to tell her parents that she got into a fight on the first day of school. She would cross that bridge when it came…or hopefully, if it came.
“What did you learn?” Mushi asked.
Kiara thought for a moment about how she wanted to reply. Then she smiled. “I learned that when I grow up, I want to be a medical ninja. But not just that, I want to be the Chief of the Medical Unit. That way, I can protect those who are precious to me.”
Mushi and Nami stared at their daughter. That was…deep, Mushi thought to himself. “What made you want to be a medical ninja?” he asked his daughter.
Kiara shrugged. “Being with friends.” She thought back on her day with Zuko, Nuka, Hatani, and Sokka. Then she thought of Shierra. Then her thoughts wandered to any future precious people that she might have. Yeah, they were all definitely worth protecting.
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Chapter notes: The inside story of one of the characters introduced in the first chapter. Please review. Enjoy!
I do own Kiara and some other oc, but I do not own the world of Naruto.
Chapter end notes: So what did you think of Kiara? Of Zuko's mini flashbacks? Of the other new characters? Of the whole thing in general? Leave some feedback for me please because your thoughts mean a lot to me.