𝑾𝑰𝑻𝑯 𝒀𝑶𝑼 | 𝑲.𝑰𝑵𝒁𝑼𝑲𝑨

|I{•------» [5] «------•}I|

This morning, Ruka left the house quickly with the thought of surpassing her great grandfather Hashirama Senju. She was motivated to the point that she ignored her grandfather giving her a long speech.

"We will now start the final exam," Iruka-sensei announced, looking at the sheet. "When your name is called, proceed to the testing room. The final tests will be on the clone jutsu."

Her blue eyes traveled to the headbands in front of him. She knew she shouldn't be nervous, considering how she managed to transform into eight clones with the amount of training she had. But as the Hokage's granddaughter, she wasn't sure if she was up to everyone's expectations. The thought of failing would definitely bring disappointment, especially to her grandfather.

"Everyone proceed outside and wait till your name is called!" Everyone stood up and walked out. Ruka caught the Nara's eyes as she walked out with Kiba. He quickly walked beside her, ignoring Choji's and Ino's looks. He cleared his throat and slouched lazily. "So, do you think you can beat Sasuke?"

Ruka raised her eyebrows at him, while Kiba narrowed his eyes at the ponytailed boy. "Hm?"

Ino sighed as she walked beside Ruka, pulling Kiba away from her and causing the Inuzuka to growl. "Although I would love Sasuke-kun to win, I'm sure she's going to beat him."

"Of course," Shikamaru sighed. "Must be nice to have that Hokage blood in you."

Kiba glanced at Ruka as she ignored them, scratching Akamaru's sweet spot behind his small ears as he slept in her arms. He noticed her lips pursed, a habit she had when she was annoyed, so he decided to step in. "Just because she's related to them doesn't mean she didn't try as hard as all of us."

Ruka looked at him in surprise, realizing that the boy knew she wanted everyone to recognize her for her effort and not just because of her relation to the three Hokages. Their eyes met, and Kiba gave her a wink, to which she responded with a small thankful smile.

---

"Sarutobi, Ruka," Iruka smiled at her, noticing that she had been staring at him. "Are you ready?" The girl quickly blinked her eyes repeatedly before nodding. "Yeah."

"Stop it!" She internally screamed in her mind before she closed her eyes and began her exam. "Clone Jutsu!"

She opened her eyes to reveal eleven clones of herself, causing the two teachers to gasp in amazement. "Sorry," Ruka mumbled, feeling uncomfortable with their reaction.

Iruka shook his head before smiling. "Don't apologize. You must have trained really hard."

"Or maybe she just has the blood of the three lords to make it this far," Mizuki shrugged, causing Ruka to narrow her eyes at him. But Iruka disagreed. "No, I can see how much effort she put into her training, to the point that she's exhausted. This shows how dedicated she is to becoming a shinobi."

The teacher looked at her and smiled. "Keep it up, and you will find yourself becoming a jonin as fast as you can." He passed the headband to her, and she happily took it.

She stared at the leaf symbol while smiling. "This is it... becoming just like him... I'll prove you wrong."

---

She found herself outside the academy with everyone congratulating her. She felt suffocated until she spotted a boy sitting on the swing, staring

at the ground. Using him as an excuse, she quickly walked towards him, ignoring the concerned stares from the crowd.

"Hm?" Naruto looked up to find a girl standing beside him, the girl he had looked up to from afar. "W-why are you here?"

"Sorry," she mumbled as she sighed. "I just needed to find an excuse to get away from the crowd." Naruto's blue eyes followed where she pointed, and he received a glare from the crowd. He quickly looked down at the ground somberly.

"What's wrong?" Ruka asked, noticing his fallen mood. Naruto let out a sniffle in response before looking at her with tears in his eyes. "I failed..."

"Oh..." She looked away from him awkwardly, unsure of how to comfort him. 'Should I just pat him?' she thought, sighing in annoyance. "It doesn't mean you can't be a Hokage," she said, causing him to look at her confusedly. "Don't let small things like this stop you. Get up and prove everyone wrong."

With that, she began to turn on her heel, leaving him in awe as she walked towards the guy she had been looking for. "Told you, I did it," Kiba smirked proudly at her, to which she grinned. "Hm... congratulations then. I was ready to call you a loser," she teased. He rolled his eyes before taking her headband and tying it around her forehead. "What's next for us?" she asked.

He shrugged as Ruka grabbed his headband and did the same. "I don't know, but whatever it is, I will always be with you."

---

Hiruzen eyed his granddaughter from his hidden spot in the middle of the crowd in front of the academy. He had managed to escape from his office to watch her, smiling in happiness after graduating from the academy.

He watched her with a small smile playing on his lips as she giggled with her best friend, Kiba Inuzuka. Those two had been inseparable since the age of six, and he knew that the young boy would always stay by her side.

"Lord Third?" Iruka asked, noticing Hiruzen smiling proudly at his granddaughter. "Why didn't you let Ruka graduate from the academy earlier? She's one step ahead of everyone in her class. She could have been a jonin at this age."

"Ever since I noticed her abilities when she was three..." Hiruzen trailed off. "I made a vow not to give Ruka special treatment as a Hokage, but as her grandfather, I wanted her to have the chance to have a normal childhood like every child in Konoha."

Even though Hiruzen tended to give her long speeches on the expectations of being a shinobi, he still wanted her to grow up slowly. But Ruka was too stubborn, insisting on training herself every day.