Coming back home, Aimi took a quick shower -even though she didn't sweat anymore- and retreated into her room. Time to test whether she needed sleep. She spent the entire night doing strength training. Somewhere along that night, her strength ranked up but she didn't stop. As the sun slowly rose outside her window, casting warm rays of light on her skin, she felt good, better than good in fact. She wasn't tired or fatigued and she felt stronger than ever before. Even just jumping one rank in both strength and constition was monumental. Before, she was as strong as the strongest civilian, now? Now she had crossed over to genin territory and it felt intoxicating. She was on par now with most of the clan kids, not Sasuke but someone like Ino surely. And this was just a day and a night. She knew her improvement speed would slow down as she rose the ranks but it still felt amazing.
"What got you smiling like that, my dear?" Her mother noticed her looking overly happy.
"I hope it's not some boy I need to chase away with our broom", her father -Bo- quipped, an easy smile spreading over his gentle features.
"You couldn't scare off a rat with that broom, dear", Ai Midori told her husband, who seemed to deflate. He was a big softy under all that muscle and those scars. Even an ill tempered kitten could beat him if it really tried.
Glancing at the clock, Aimi realized she would be late if she didn't hurry now, so, she grabbed an onigiri and rushed towards the academy, past the vendors slowly opening their shops and the people -mostly inuzuka, though not all- walking their dogs, making it to her classroom just in time. How good it was that she didn't grow tired, else she'd be late. She had never been late to the academy, even if she was sick, she would haul herself into the dusty classrooms, taking diligent notes. Notes which she often reviewed before tests or big exams.
Iruka sensei walked in, holding a box full of leaves, "I have noticed that a few of you have had trouble with the chakra control needed to perform the academy three, so I have brought these leaves to show you a chakra control exercise. All you need to do is place a leaf on your forehead and keep it there using chakra. You will learn more chakra control exercises once you graduate but for now, this will do", he handed each of the a leaf and explained the theory about it in greater detail. Aimi did it on the first try. She expected a new skill to manifest but even after ten minutes, there wasn't that *ding*, which he was getting used to. Perhaps this was too easy? There was no real way to improve once you stuck a leaf successfully, so perhaps that was why it didn't register as a skill? She wondered whether these other, more advanced chakra control exercises would be skills or not. Only time would tell.
"Hey, Aimi chan. You seem to have this figured out, how do you get it to stick? My leaf just keeps falling off" a voice asked from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the dead last, Naruto Uzumaki, leaning over his desk to whisper to her.
She frowned. Her mother said not to associate with him, he was trouble, according to Ai, but what harm could it be to help a fellow classmate, so, she began walking him through the steps. By the end of the period, he managed to keep it sticking for an incredible two and a half seconds. It was better than before, she guessed. He truly had no talent for chakra control and yet he had perfected the transformation technique and turned it into that perverted technique of his'. She had seen it a few times. With that abysmal chakra control, he must expend a lot of wasted chakra.
Next, they had history class. They learned about the legendary Sannin. Orochimaru, Jiraya and Tsunade. Orochimaru, the serpent Sannin had left the village two years after the nine tails rampage and became an S rank missing nin. Jiraya, the toad Sannin rarely appeared in the village, travelling all over the elemental nations to research for his books but he was still affiliated with Konoha at the very least. And Tsunade, the slug Sannin, every young kunoichi's role model, with medical jutsu and the strength of a hundred regular men, she was out there, somewhere, doing who knows what. Aimi often dreamed of becoming someone like the Sannin, pillars of strength and the ninja way and with the gamer system, it might not be so far away as it had once seemed. Previously, she had been average, perhaps slightly above but now things were different. She had the gamer system, she could rise through the ranks of the shinobi world. She wondered what Tsunade's stats were like? S rank at the very least but the exact numbers, she didn't know.
"Okay, it's lunch time, which means time for our one hour break" Iruka sensei declared and Aimi was about to go to her favorite bbq spot, when Naruto asked her, "would you like to grab some ramen with me? My treat"
In her head, her mother's warnings echoed, 'that boy is nothing but trouble, best avoid him' but he sounded so unsure and desperate. This wasn't some demon, just a child like herself. So she did the exact thing which her mother forbid her from doing, she associated with him, "sure, if you are offering"
Naruto's eyes lit up like fireworks, his smile was so broad, you'd almost think his face would split in two, "r- really? Sugeeeee!", he grabbed her arm and they ran through the streets of Konoha, up to an unassuming ramen shop. They ordered and let me tell you, it tasted way better than any bbq she had ever had, though not quite as good as his mother's dumplings, those were still number one.