In A Hopeless Place (c)

✿ The year was coming to a close. Graduation lurked just around the corner, and while she thought she should be excited, filled with nervous butterflies as a good thing, Asuka felt only a cold panic. She couldn't sleep at night, at least not very well. And why should she be nervous at all? She had good marks in most things, not entirely a genius like a few of her classmates, but average enough. Her hard work showed. Except for one tiny-- big-- issue. She wasn't supposed to hear it, but her parents were never really subtle when the subject of their arguments regarded her.

I spoke to Asuka's teacher today. He said she still can't perform any basic ninjutsus.

Perhaps she's just a late bloomer. Give her some time.

The Yukis are not flowers! Don't coddle her! She's not trying hard enough! She's lazy! The year is ending and she has nothing to show for it!

The argument echoed around in her head, distracting her enough to be oblivious to most things during today's lecture. Asuka had not realized their teacher was trying to address her before he was all but screaming in her ear for her attention.

"Miss Yuki Asuka!" He barked, and Asuka jumped, scrambling to burst up from her chair in a clumsy way that knocked over her neighbor's books and scattered her pencils in every which direction. The action caused a chorus of laughter and snickering to echo throughout the room, but she held her chin high, grinding down hard on her back molars to ignore it. She wouldn't give her classmates the satisfaction of watching her crumble under embarrassment this time.

The teacher sighed, clearly at the end of his patience, but whatever he had been trying to get her to answer, he dismissed as a short recess before the class would continue. As soon as the teacher relieved them, the class came to life with excited conversation, some talking about the year ending, others giggling about one thing or another, and Asuka refused to listen in on the group of girls hissing jokes behind her back. She sank herself back in her chair and dropped her head into her arms with a groan, wishing the floor would open up and swallow her right then and there. What a mess.

She sat for a few minutes on her own while the class divided up into their typical clicks and whatnot, before she decided she needed to get some fresh air before she decided ramming her fist into a classmate's jaw became a satisfying idea. Asuka pushed herself to a stand and quietly left the classroom to the docks just outside. She sat herself against the weather worn wood and swung her legs over one side to dangle her feet just over the water's surface, listening to it lap and move under her.

The final exam required her to create a proper shadow clone. And looking at her hands, her empty useless palms, Asuka didn't know if she could master it in time.