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Three years later

I walked towards the gate with a wobble to my step, courtesy of starving myself to display a realistic act. With my age, being eight years old, and my performance into deceiving the gate guards (probably Izumo and Kotetsu).

The wind ruffled my dark grey hair, just a shade away from black before someone, Kotetsu, shouting, "Hey, you there! Show your identification if you chose to enter Konoha."

The two guards peer from their small shed, eyes widening at my own small form, their voices lighten, just a bit, "Hey kid, what are you doing here? Out here alone? Where's you parents?"

Like a flick of a switch, my expression turned south, eyes watering, figure trembling, "M-my name is Basuto... my parents were killed by bandits, ma told me that Konoha was safe..!" My mouth wobbled, "I... I wanna be ninja so I can stop 'em!" With all of these factors plus my impromptu adding of a shaking voice, the two guards were sold.

They eye each other with a frown, exchanging words before one of them walks up towards me, bending to my height with a nice (not gentle!), but nice smile. "Here kid, I'll escort you to someone who can help settle you in."

He grabs my hand, leading me into the village that was built like a maze, probably intended to do so, passing by a familiar building, the Hokage Tower. And by a random chance, the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood outside the entrance.

He held his pipe between his fingers, blowing a puff of smoke into the air before his eyes descended on one of his most trusted Chunin, Kotetsu.

"Aah, Kotetsu-kun..." His eyes trail to meet my own, "...who do we have here?"

Kotetsu's stance straighten at the voice, "Hokage-sama!" He glances down at me before meeting the Hokage's eyes, "This is Basuto-kun... he wants to apply citizenship."

Hiruzen makes a noise of understanding, "is that so?" He glances at the sun, "Well, I have some time right now, why don't we settle this in my office?"

It takes a few hours, especially when I mention my cowardice clan in the Land of Lightning, but by the end of day, I leave the Tower with an apartment deed, some money and a stipend each month for daily needs. An chunin leads me around, dropping me off. 

¤◇¤◇¤◇¤◇¤◇¤

Glancing around my apartment, I take in the moderately small but enough to fit necessities. Unpacking what little I owned, before checking out the fridge: empty. 

Well, I kinda regret starving myself now.

With nothing else except a starving stomach, taking a stroll through the village in the search of food, and also finding landmarks and such, was a outstanding idea. Mentally jotting down any back alleys for future references, can't be too careful.

While walking down the street, I managed to spot a blond that wore an atrocious orange short-sleeved hoodie. Ducking into a nearby food stall, I switch my attention to the food instead, keeping in mind that my ultimate goal was to avoid the Rookie 9 for as long as possible and not stand out-- getting all the clan heirs and heiress attention is not the ideal.

¤◇¤◇¤◇¤◇¤◇¤

The first day of the academy

Its been about a week since I've came here and adapting was quicker than I initially thought, that week came in and out faster then I had hoped

I walk through the entrance and casually walk to the room I'm heading to. I was about 20 minutes late, having asked the receptionist for directions, and my general slow pace didn't help.

Sliding the door open, I walked in, Iruka took notice of me and stopped the lesson he in the middle of. The rest of the students follow suit and all begin to stare at me.

"Class, this will be a new student joining. Please introduce yourself." He asked me, gesturing me to walk to the front.

"Hello, My name is Basuto Hanadji, a pleasure to make your acquaintances." I said simply, putting a small smile on my face to perfect the look of 'childishness' and 'innocence'.

"Alright Basuto-kun, go take a seat. Any empty seat is fine."

I take a seat next to one of the civilian students. Though everyone was staring at me, I doubted I would be big news for more than a week. Everyone was still talking about the Uchiha massacre after all, as that only happened a few months ago.

Iruka quickly asked me what I knew about most subjects.

"The basics of pretty much all of them."

Soon after he figured out where I was at in ninja skills and smarts he continued with the lesson he was previously teaching. Math.

God dammit.

Now, it was not to say I hated math. In fact, I actually enjoyed quite a bit of it. The only problem I had currently was it's simplicity. This was a class of 8-year-olds, half my age before I died, so of course, I didn't expect it to be calculus or anything, but the 5×4 on the board didn't give me any hope of actually learning anything from this.

Obviously, I wasn't going to state this opinion out loud, as that would ruin the entire act I had put on of being 'just another kid'.

Instead, I just stared at the board with fake interest. This was going to be a long 4 years.

¤◇¤◇¤◇¤◇¤◇¤

The lunch bell rang with a shrill, everyone immediately jumping up and practically bolted out of the room.

I'm going to have so many people asking me questions.

As soon as lunch started I immediately went for a quiet place to eat. That didn't turn out as I hoped.

I was followed by a single kid. It looked like they all collectively agreed they would be the one to ask questions, or this person had enough presence in the class to put anyone else that wanted to ask me anything into submission.

Considering who it is, either one wouldn't surprise me.

"Mind if I sit with you?" I hate that voice. My least favorite character. 

Without waiting for a response they sit down next to me.

"Sooo... " They ask me.

I nod my head in reply, not even acknowledging that they haven't even asked a question yet, taking a bite from my lunch, slowly.

"So... Why'd you join the academy so late?" They ask.

"I moved," I replied quietly. I was going to keep all my answers short and simple, but still enough that I didn't seem like a total dick. My answers might be mistaken for shyness.

"Where are you from?"

"North-East of here."

"Why are you so quiet and shy? I'm just asking you some questions." They said pouting.

"I'm sorry, I don't like talking much," I say just as shyly as before, though I was getting real tired of acting like I was.

There was a lull in the conversation as we both awkwardly eat our lunches silently, though it was far more awkward for them than me.

God, if they're trying to interrogate me, they are failing miserably. They might be child, but surely they must have learned something from their father.

I get up before they can ask anything else and start heading back towards the academy.

"Where are you-"

The shriek of the bell interrupted the conversation, letting myself scatter far away from the child.

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As I said earlier I'm very sorry for the tremendously long wait, but hey at least it's out.

I've gone over and edited the whole story multiple times because the conversations seem to fast and forced. I'm still not happy with it but whatever.

Also, I'd like to thank the author @CrystalScherer for her story 'Tips on writing stories on Wattpad (just the basics)' It really helped me grow as an author and make this story even better.

Anyways hope you enjoyed this chapter of Unnoticed and see you in the next chapter

Don't forget to vote, comment, and share!

-Sk8n

-edited June 27, 2020 by anjo

-edited July 30, 2020 by Juicebox