I woke with a start, startling the maid who had been shaking my shoulder.

"Sorry miss, but it's time to wake up. You need to prepare for breakfast, and you requested that I wake you early to practice. Today is your graduation test," She informed me quickly and quietly. I nodded, relaxing, and stood.

I pulled on my outfit, worried about the exam. My sister graduated when she was nine; far younger then me. It would be a shame I could not bear if I failed the exam today. I was already a disappointment, unable to follow in my sister's footsteps; twelve years old and I would be taking the exams for the first time. My sister was now sixteen, a jonin, and a soon-to-be Anbu. I would never catch up to her. She cast a long shadow over me that I would never escape.
With a sigh, I went to the basement, entering a training room. There are dummies, blocks of wood, targets, everything you could want. I practiced my taijutsu. I loved taijutsu, and while I wasn't the strongest, my great sense of balance helped. Target practice was fairly easy. If you did something enough times, it become second nature. Ninjutsu practice was... interesting. I could accomplish all the jutsus, but every single one had some sort of flaw with it, whether it was simply weak or wrong.

Huffing, I turned away. One of the male staff ran in front of me, knowing what was coming next genjutsu. My favorite. It wasn't flashy or showy, you do it and beat your opponent. No one enjoyed practicing with a genjutsu user; all they needed was a test rat.
I do the necessary hand signs, and then the servant collapsed. A grin of relief and pride spread across my face at the accomplishment. In the genjutsu, he was currently wandering around in darkness, pitch black. He could only see a few feet ahead, and the occasional shurikan or kunai came out to skim over him.
Of course, this was all happening in his mind.

I walked over and released him from the genjutsu. He bowed to me, looking shaky. I felt a twinge of guilt, but pushed it away harshly: I needed to practice on somebody.

Mother and Father didn't like genjutsu much. They ranked it inferior to ninjutsu and taijutsu. They often reminded me that genjutsu was just for people who weren't strong enough for taijutsu or skilled enough for ninjutsu.

It saddened me, that what I was best at made them see me as weak. I quickly shook my thoughts away, hurrying upstairs for breakfast. I stop in the powder room to wash my face quickly and a maid sweeped my hair into a bun, wrapping my hair around the two hair sticks.

I hurry into the dining area. I was late. I bowed quickly. "You're late. You made us wait," Mother told me, steely eyes flashing.

"I'm sorry," I replied clearly: I wasn't planning on getting slapped today.

"Today is your graduation exam, correct?" My Father confirmed.

"Yes, Father." I nod.

"Have you practiced?"

"Yes, Father."

"Hideaki never needed to practice. She passed without studying," My father told me. I hid a scowl, lowering my head. If i practiced, then it was wrong, because Hideaki never needed to, apparently. She was just naturally perfect. But if I didn't practice, then I was clearly arrogant, and would fail and bring shame to the family because of my lack of preparation.

But I knew I couldn't argue with my father. With a sigh, I conceded, "Yes, Fa--"

"No, Father," My sister interrupted. My eyes widened by a millimeter. Challenging Father? My sister's gone mad.

"I practiced from seven at night to twelve in the morning everyday to make you proud, so I could pass with the highest marks of my class. I practiced long, and I practiced hard. Just because Fuzen practices doesn't mean she's worse then me!"

I was practically gaping at the sight of her standing up to father. She used to do this all the time. Stand up to Father, usually to protect me. But she hadn't done that in almost five years. So why now?

Then it hit me. My punishment. She hated it when I was punished. Father rarely used physical punishment, and it grew rarer as I grew older. The only time I would be punished in such a way was if I had truly messed up in my Father's eyes and he was feeling particularly vengeful.

And suddenly, I hated my sister. Who gives a shit about a few lashings? I've been breaking up inside every day, keeping my fake smile in place. But I get it, now. Because I pretend that I'm okay, because I keep smiling, I can't have problems, can I?

But I do. I'm compared to her. Never good enough. Sit up straight, speak clearly, don't socialize with your true friend, snub the hurt boy, put up with teasing and mocking and bullying with a smile on your face. BE PERFECT. And I can't be.

But no, she didn't care about the thing that was really killing me. She was worried about a couple of lashes with a whip.

"Maybe if you worked as hard as Hideaki, you could be as good as her, Fuzen," My Father mused.

I stood suddenly, everything crashing down on me at once as I snap. The silverware shook on the table as I pushed away from it, and everyone's eyes were drawn to me.My sister's face fills my vision, and I hated her, and I hated this table and this family and I'm so angry that I can't even say anything, and so I just showed her my favorite finger and stalked from the room. Shocked silence rang behind me, and no one made move to stop me.

One thing was for certain: I was dead when I came home.

I sighe, wandering aimlessly towards the academy. I had left early, so I was the first there. I sat down next to the seat I knew Sasuke would sit in. Even though we had no seating arrangement, he always sat here.

I stard at my hands, thinking of this mornings events. I couldn't go back. I needed to give everyone time to cool down. God, why did I react that way? I should have known better. Years of experiance, and I decide to lose control over that?

"Why are you crying?" I heard a voice ask. I looked up quickly, seeing Sasuke staring quizzically at me.

"Huh?" I asked stupidly.

"You're crying," He repeated, looking at me like I'm an idiot.

I touched my cheek, feeling the wetness. "Oh," I said quietly, "I didn't realize,"

He scoffed and glared at me, but when I refused to move he gave in with a sigh, sitting next to me--where he always sat. I knew he wouldn't be the one to start conversation and so I take the time to subtly wipe my eyes again, trying to hide any signs of crying.

"Is my nose red?" I asked randomly.

He turned towards me, obsidian eyes blank. "What?" He asked.

"My nose," I said again, "Is it red?"

"Why?" He questioned irritably,

"I don't want anyone to know I was crying. Is my nose red?"

"No..." He trailed off, turning away and shaking his head, clearly dismissing any further conversation. I sighed. If I told mother and father that I talked to Sasuke, then they might forgive me. Possibly. Okay, they may not be as cruel about punishing me.

"Are you ready for the test?" I questioned, searching for a topic he would talk about. I only received a grunt in response. "I don't think I'll do well. I'll never do as good as my sister did. She's going to be an anbu soon. She's only sixteen. A jonin at fourteen. Chunin at eleven."

It's easy to ramble to him, because you're so sure he won't respond, and he won't bother telling anyone.

"You'll be fine," I started in surprise as he responds. "With a sister like yours--"

"It's not about my prodigy sister, Sasuke!" I snapped angrily, "I'm not her and I never will be. Forget it," I muttered as the first people begin to trickle in. I realized in the back of my mind that he was probably only trying to comfort me--or possibly trying to antagonize me enough to get me to shut up. Either was, I was irritated with him.

I ignored Sasuke as class began, refusing to subtly fawn over him as I normally would and instead listening intently to Iruka. Clone jutsu... I could do that. I began to concentrate as names are called out, only looking up when Sasuke's name was called.

"Good luck," I called lowly. He turned, head tilted slightly in what I thought may have been surprise. "But you shouldn't need it, with a brother like yours..." I trailed off, guilt immediately eating at me as his eyes darkened and nomal glare took over his face. "I'm sorry, Sasuke," I called after his back, but he refused to acknowledge me.

Eventually, my name was called. "Fuzen Kanpeki," I stood gracefully, walking into the room.

"Make three clones, and you'll pass," Iruka smiled. I nodded, swiftly doing the handsigns of the simple jutsu. Three passable clones appeared, and when Iruka nods I released them.

"Great job. Try to keep your hand signs precise, and you'll do better. But you pass! Also, your mother and father wanted the results of all your tests, so here they are!" Iruka handed me a piece of paper. "Grab a headband an you can leave!"

I walked up, snatching a headband from the table. "Congratulations! Maybe you will be as good as your sister one day!" Mizuki called after me. I gritted my teeth, every muscle stiffening and stalked from the room into the sunlight.

Everyone's parents were there, but I couldn't see mine. I thought that they would appear, if only to keep up appearances. Suddenly, a hand seized my shoulder in a bruising grip, wheeling me around. "I presume you passed, Fuzen?" My father asked loudly. I winced and stepped away from him.

"Yes, Father," I presented my headband to him.

"And your overall results?" He questioned. Everyone's attention was on him by now, and I could do nothing but hand him the paper quietly, eyes on the ground.

"Ninjutsu... Seventy one percent..." He glared at me before blanking out his face and reading the rest. "Taijutsu, Eighty nine percent. Genjutsu... Ninety eight percent." Surprise colored his voice as he read my genjutsu stats.

I kicked the ground shyly with my foot, trying to ignore the eyes pinned on me. "Intelligence, ninety six percent. Strength, Seventy percent. Speed, eighty seven percent. Stamina, seventy five percent. Hand seals, ninety percent."

They weren't bad results; I certainly wasn't embarrassed by them. But my father is obviously disappointed. He handed me a small amount of money, but the look on his face was anything but congratulatory. "Go and celebrate," he ordered coldly, obviously just wanting to get away from me. I took the money and hurried away, searching for the familiar pink hair through the crowd.

"Sakura!" I called out, spotting her. She squealed and hugs me.

"I passed! I passed!" She shouted in my ear.

"Congratulations!" I grinned, "Um... do you mind if... maybe, to celebrate, we could have a sleep over!" I suggested.

"Great idea! My parents won't mind, but we're going to go eat first, if you don't mind...?" She trailed off.

"No, no, you celebrate with your parents," I assured her, already walking away, ignoring the embarrassment growing in my chest from her rejection. I shouldn't have tried to impose myself on her and her family in the first place. I could feel her eyes burning into my back until I disappeared into the crowd. Trying to regain control of my emotions, leaned against the wall of the academy, hidden by the shadows.

I watched as everyone slowly dispersed. Parents were gazing fondly and proudly at their children, who were grinning stupidly over their headbands.

"So, you passed?" I heard a voice ask me lowly. I gasped, turning around. I had been so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't even notice them sneak up on me.

"Kiba," I growled lowly.

He raised his hands defensively. "Hey, hey, calm down," He protested.

"Why should I?" I asked him, turning away and growing quiet. "You tease me and mock me and make me hate the fact that I can't be perfect, and, and..." I stuttered, fighting back tears. God. I could handle him any day, any time. Just not now.

"Hey, don't get all teary on me," he waved his hands slightly, panicking.

"I hurt more then you know," I whispered, turning away and wiping at my eyes.

"Yeah?" He snorted, "Well, your the one who always acts so self righteous, sticking your nose up in the air, because everything comes easy to you. You don't have to worry about money. You have both parents, a perfect family to come home to. You don't even need to practice or try to do well! You take it all for granted," he sneered.

My heart felt like it dropped to the ground. "Yeah," I said lowly, to lowly for him to hear if he wasn't and Inuzuka. "Sure," I turned away, beginning to walk towards Sakura's house. She wouldn't mind if I let myself in.

"Y'know, I came to apologize, but forget that! I'll never apologize to you!" He shouted.

I wiped furiously at my smarting eyes, walking into Sakura's house and heading to her room. I was tired of thinking about today and worrying about the consequences to my actions and so instead, I wonder who will be on my team tomorrow. All I could do was I hope they would be people my parents would approve of.

But, then again, my parents would never approve of anything that involved me. I frowned, wiping at my now dry eyes once again as Sakura entered the room. "Hey, what's wrong?" She asked softly. I tried to be strong, tried not to answer with anything but "I'm fine", but Sakura knew me better than that.

"Family fight," I whispered. She hugged me, sighing as I fought back the sobs.

"Hey, it'll pass over. Don't worry about it," she reassured me. I nodded, though I didn't believe her.

"Let's forget this; you need cheering up. Oh my gosh, you'll never believe it, Sasuke was at the restraint we went to..." She continued chattering, and I listened intently, smiling and nodding, trying not to think about the storm waiting for me when I got home.

____________________________________________ 

Chapter two!

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