Fraudulent
ZaneLoverFan88

"FRAUDULENT (adj.): characterised by, based on, or done by fraud; deceitful." Kai Smith is the new student in the prestigious Master Wu's Academy for Boys… Although there is one tinsy winsy issue, Kai –or should we say Nya- is a girl. (AU)(Jaya)

.::.

Hey everyone! I'm alive! Sorry I kind of vanished on you all for a whole year but I'm back; alive and well and with greatly improved writing skills… SO improved that reading some of my other OLDER stories consisted of red foreheads and a permanent cringe face. So I am to aiming to make this new story a WHOLE lot better.

In addition: I'm not a huge fan of the movie or the recent seasons. I fell in love with the first few seasons of Ninjago so I'll be quite… I guess traditional. I don't mind spoilers but I don't know anything that happens after Skybound. Sorry. ALSO, I gained inspiration for this story from Emmaline Andrew's book, 'The Academy' so check that book out!

Rating: T for violence and abuse (Just to be safe).

Disclaimers: I do not own Ninjago in anyway or make profit from this story. This is written solely for entertainment and enjoyment.

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Chapter 1
Welcome to the Academy

.:Nya:.

The sun rose like any other day. The black sky gradually turned into dim grey. The illumination of stars got languidly lustreless. All the countless of stars in the ebony sky started to hide their brightness, slowly dissipating into nothingness. It didn't take long for the first orange hue to appear on the skyline. Soon, streaks of pink wandered to the end of the earth. Blazing orange set fire to the clouds. A soft purple simmered along the horizon. Soon, the sun levitated into the sky.

Sunrise.

To most people, the sunrise is a symbolic message. It's a new beginning, or the end of a dark era. It could even be the birth of something new.

For Nya? It was just another sunrise. Just another day.

The adolescent let out a soft sigh as she sat on the edge of the balcony, her legs dangling over the edge while her arms and chin rested on the rails, her amber eyes absentmindedly on the sunrise. The soft, salty breeze blew past, ruffling her short hair.

Usually, it would soothe her. The breeze. Breeze, to Nya, was freedom. But… what was freedom if she didn't have it anymore? What was freedom if it was stolen from her from over a decade ago?

It didn't take long for the orange sun to turn into a ball of blinding light, resulting in Nya turning from the scene and grudgingly make her way back to the dingy hotel room where the light from the sun filtered through the outdated curtains and illuminated the peeling wallpaper, casting long shadows along the wall. The old carpet had splotches of mould throughout, giving the room a foul smell… Not that Nya minded; she had got used to it over the last three days.

She immediately went to the tattered duffle bag that rested on top of the made bed. She pulled out the essentials she needed for the day – the worn out muscle suit she had stolen from a movie set, a pair of baggy jeans, loose hoodie, bandages and hair gel.

With all of this gathered in her arms, she made her way to the bathroom. She placed the stuff around the sink before finally looking at the mirror, where she saw a shell of the girl she used to be looking back at her. Nya's proud raven hair was chestnut brown and falling just near the bottom of her ears. Her tanned skinned from her old days in the sun had adopted this ashen tinge from her current days on the run. Her amber eyes looked dead above the dark bags. Her once healthy and full face lost all innocence and became slightly shallow… which didn't bother the girl too much anymore. It just made her face shape look a little more like Kai's.

The mere thought of her brother's name caused a twinge of pain to flash within Nya's chest. Memories slowly simmered from the back of Nya's mind to the front, but, she firmly pushed it away as she tore her eyes from the mirror and stripped out of her clothes.

She immediately set herself to the daily routine. Bind the chest. Put on the worn out muscle suit. Dress in the slightly baggy clothes. Style her hair into the Kai's hairstyle.

Nya looked at the mirror again, feeling worse than she did moments ago. Staring back at her, in the reflection, was Kai… More like a sad and beaten down version of her brother. The two had the same nose, perky and long. They had the same almond shaped eyes, both also amber coloured. They even had the same broad and straight forehead. With the addition of Nya's slight loss of weight and baby fat, her cheeks held more resemblance to Kai's cheeks.

The muscle suit, she had stolen, used to just be about Kai's size – capturing his shoulder width and upper body perfectly but over the last few months, it just kept getting thinner and thinner from the constant wear. Although it made her seem slightly muscular but also slightly scrawny, it did hide Nya's slightly feminine shoulders and curves effectively – eliminating all suspects that she could potentially be a girl disguised as a boy.

Her slightly baggy clothes used to be Kai's clothes. They were a bit big since he was taller than her but it was that and the bags under her eyes that just made her seem like a very sad version of him. Then again, it perfectly matched her demeanour.

She decided it would have to do. As long as she didn't get recognised by her uncle and potentially fool a school full of boys, she would endure through it.

.::.

After awkwardly standing in the small waiting room after the receptionist left her, Nya's feet cautiously walked across the blue carpeted floor and to one of the monotonous grey waiting chairs that pedantically aligned along the bare beige walls of the room. Nya sat on the edge of the chair. Ever since she had been on the run, she had always been on alert – never allowing herself to relax; especially not in public.

Her calloused hands interlocked with each other on top of her knees with the intention to calm them as soon as they had started to bounce with nervous energy. Nya's amber eyes scanned the room, taking note of the light bulb hanging from the ceiling that bathed the windowless room with an ivory yellow light. Then, her eyes landed on the discoloured water dispenser placed in the corner of the room, next to either an artificial or live plant, full of faux, olive green leaves.

Soon, she saw the small clock that hung above the principal's office. Nya scrutinised at the second hand, which seemed to linger an extra minute at very passing second. The girl immediately took her gaze off the clock, silently vowing to not look at it once more until absolutely necessary. So, she directed her attention elsewhere – that elsewhere being the pocket of her hoodie.

Nya's eyes looked at the red fabric and how it shifted when she reached her hand into the pocket and pulled out the familiar feeling of the two tattered photos. Nya closed her eyes for a few seconds, inhaling and exhaling slowly before opening them to look at the first photo.

It was a family portrait, dating back ten years ago. Nya looked at the happy photo. Her parents were standing in the background, smiles on their faces and wrinkles at the ends of their amber and blue eyes as they looked to the camera. Her father's messy hair was something Kai definitely inherited, in which, the boy was found in Ray's arms.

Kai had a radiating smile on his face. His lips were parted to show his teeth while his amber eyes glimmered with a mischief he always had as a young child. His hair, although not notoriously spiky yet, was a mess like their father's. He was only eight in this photo, the hair gel came into action possibly four years after this photo was taken.

Kai was a near replica of Ray; but, if there was something that Kai inherited from their mother, it was the nose. Other than that, Maya was a beautiful woman. Long, wavy, dark brown hair that ended past her shoulders, blue eyes that showed tender love for her family and her renowned high cheekbones. There, in her arms, was a six-year-old Nya.

The girl's face was full of awe, amber eyes wide and mouth formed in a perfect 'O' with small hands that hadn't practiced blacksmithing yet, reaching for the camera. Unlike Nya's current hair, her hair used to be raven black, inherited from her father. It fell in a bob cut with a fringe brushing the top of her brows.

Nya desperately missed her family. It was back when everything was happy. Although this picture does remind Nya of the happy times they had, it also made her remember their permanent absence from her life.

Nya debated whether or not she wanted to see the second photo, knowing that if she did, she would just feel too depressed to deal with anything.

"Stuff it…" Nya muttered as she brought the other photo forward.

Her eyes observed the photo. Unlike the other one where it was just a blank background, this one was right in front of the Four Weapons store in Ignacia, and this photo wasn't ten years ago. It was last year. Kai was no longer eight years old. In this photo, he was seventeen while Nya was fifteen. Her brother's hair was famously styled into his spikes, the same large smile of his face while his amber eyes crinkled as they stared at the camera.

Nya's raven hair was a lot longer this time. It was at her shoulders but fell straight instead of waves like her mother's hair did. Her face was a lot fuller, there was not a slightest trace of sleep deprive from underneath her eyes, and, there was a smile on her lips – a small thing that hadn't been present on her face since she had started to run.

Nya was actually on Kai's back, her arms over his shoulders and interlocking in front of his chest while his arms had grabbed underneath her legs to keep her propped up-

"Mr. Smith."

Nya's head perked up after quickly stuffing the photos into her pocket and she saw the headmaster, Master Wu, standing at the door. The man was quite old – maybe in his sixties. He had this oddly, silky and soft looking white beard and moustache that reached to the bottom of his stomach. His hazel eyes held wisdom but this tender softness as well.

He wore an elegant yet simple white kimono with a black sash around his hips. There was a red lotus emblem on the right breast of his kimono as well. To accompany his look, he also had a bamboo staff that was slightly taller than him and a straw hat… why was he wearing a hat indoor, Nya would never know.

However, she stood up and followed the headmaster into the office. In the centre of the room, there was a thick mahogany desk with chairs on either sides. Of course, Master Wu took the furthest chair on the other side of the desk while Nya sat in the closest one.

"So, Mr. Smith, I'm honoured to have you here today," Wu noted. "I looked through your files and the Specialised Admission Test- in which I must congratulate on your full marks. That test isn't made to be easy, hence why I had decided to extend a full scholarship towards you."

"For which I must thank you for, Master Wu," Nya replied, immediately adopting her voice to be lower and in a similar tone Kai would speak with.

"However, as your intelligence certainly surpasses our standards, you must still also be able to keep up with our martial arts program – after all, this academy is prestigious for its martial arts."

"Of course. I plan to train hard for it," Nya assured.

After all, she grew up in a blacksmith shop with samurai weapons. Although swordsmanship and the martials arts were two different things, Nya was sure she wouldn't be too greatly disadvantaged in her grade… grade of boys. Okay, so she would lack the strength but she would be able to have the speed and agility… right? Unless martial arts happened to be a much faster form of fight compared to swordsmanship.

"In which I don't doubt," Master Wu commented with a small nod of his head but Nya could help but stare at his beard which moved with the nod… almost like snakes. "But you must understand, failure to meet with this expectation will immediately result in the withdrawal your scholarship here."

"I understand," Nya confirmed.

She knew she would have to train hard; her intelligence wouldn't be enough. She needed this school, for safety and to keep a low-profile from her uncle. She disguised as Kai because she knew her uncle would never look for Kai, just for her and being at an all-boys' school for something that wasn't focus on swordsmanship or specific Samurai training would really direct her uncle's search elsewhere.

"Good. Now that we got that out of the way, let's move onto your schedule, classes, your dorm and the expectations."

.::.

Intelligence was like underwear. It was important that you have it, but not necessary that you show it off. Nya was already planning not to draw attention to herself. The last thing she needed was to be recognised by every boy for being so educated in science, maths and engineering. But she was already planning to not join any clubs or join competitions, so her intelligence wasn't going to be an issue.

As for the martial arts training, Nya had played rough with the boys and sparred with her brother. Sure it wasn't proper martial arts and it's completely different from swordsmanship – but like she had mentioned before, she shouldn't be at a great disadvantage. If she was determined and dedicated enough, she would be fine. All she needed was to pass.

She wasn't worried about how to act like a boy. As a young child, Nya never really played with the other girls in Ignacia. All they wanted to do was play dolls and play dress up. Her? She just wanted to play with her brother and the boys. She wanted to be a warrior in their role-playing games of conquering dragons or the old Serpentine Generals from the tales their parents would tell them. As she grew older, the girls became worse. They wanted to talk about boys, fashion trends and makeup. Nya? She wanted to talk about sports or even weapons and stuff relating to samurais.

So, she knew how to act like a boy. She knew how to interact with them but she also had been acting like Kai whenever she was in public. As much as her older brother was such a sweet, teasing and protective older brother, he would be quite a hot-head. Although, the one thing Nya couldn't do was Kai's tendency to take action before thinking things through. Nya could never do that. All it could take was one mistake before everything comes crashing down.

What she also couldn't do was Kai's big ego and constant flirtations with girls. Yeah, Nya wasn't going to do that. But, no one here knew Kai so she knew she didn't have to be like him in very way. But, she did have his stubbornness – apparently, it was a Smith thing.

No, the one thing Nya was worried about was her roommate. She was lucky enough each dorm only fit up to two boys so that made things easier but… how was she going to do this? Obviously, she probably had to wear the muscle suit at all times. The thought of doing that was a little disgusting to Nya but maybe she may gain enough muscle and strength to adapt a more masculine looking body that she would no longer need the muscle suit. Because the last time she wore that thing for three days straight, she got a terrible outbreak of rashes and a couple bacterial skin infections. Yeah, that was pretty gross. Washing the muscle suit was a pain since it took so long to dry and the more you wash it, the more worn out it became.

Nya wondered that if she manages to become close with this boy, maybe she could entrust him with her secret- no. That could jeopardise everything. No. This had to be an absolute secret.

The girl took a deep breath as she looked to the mahogany door that stood in front of her. Although the academy was about a decade old, they must had gone through recent renovations since there was a fresh coat of varnish on the door, giving it a warm tone and a glossy sheen. The door handle must have been replaced as well because the brass doorhandle didn't have any rust or discolouring. It just reflected her reflection clearly – not showing Nya but Kai.

Don't worry, Nya. You already look like a boy. You even managed to fool the Headmaster, I'm sure you can fool your stupid roommate as well.

With this confident thought in her head, Nya turned the doorknob quickly and stepped in the room but she stopped dead in her tracks.

A tall boy –her age, of course- looked at her with a shocked expression, probably mirroring hers. His cooper brown hair was damp while his grey-blue eyes looked surprised… before they had this certain sparkle in them. It was like storm clouds right before lightning hit. But, having no control over her eyes, they looked at his bare and toned chest and immediately, she felt her cheeks burn up. He was clearly in the middle of changing. But -thank goodness- he already had a pair of dark blue jeans on.

It wasn't like Nya hadn't seen a bare chest before. She had seen her brother's and her father's shirtless chests whenever it was too hot in the shop near the furnaces. They were family, of course. She had also seen the bare chest of the boys back in Ignacia. They would play soccer shirtless if it was too hot. But, their chests could never compare to her roommate's.

"Are you going to continue gawking? I mean I know I'm hot and all, but I'm not into guys," her roommate teased, a humour dancing in his eyes.

"S-Sor- Excuse me, gawking?" Nya was about to blurt sorry before catching herself. Guys didn't do that. No. Especially not Kai. "As if I would gawk over you."

"Yeah, sure," he boy huffed before chuckling. "So, newbie, gonna come in or are you going to stay there all day long? I mean you can if you want."

Nya slightly scowled. Sure, she should be thrilled that her roommate wasn't gay – that would be so awkward! And she should also be thrilled at the fact that he wasn't some guy who was into drugs or even just one of those depressed quiet boys. Hot-heads she could deal with – after all, she had her brother. But she couldn't help but feel annoyed that this boy was already teasing her.

"Whatever," Nya muttered, walking in and immediately walking over to the right side of the room which was completely plain – compared to her roommate's side which was adorned in mostly blue decorations but also it had little inventions and contraptions.

Huh, maybe she and this boy might get along.

Nya quickly shook her head, mentally reminding herself to not get too attached. Being attached meant that there was a higher chance of a slip-up of her true identity.

"So, do I get a name or do I have you call you Gawker?"

"Can I call you Zaptrap then?" Nya countered, turning to face the boy with her arms crossed.

Yes, maybe she can just be the hot-headed and distant teen. That way, no friends and no revelation of her identity.

"Did you wake up on the wrong side of bed or something?" Her roommate asked, his back to her as he shrugged on a t-shirt. "I'm Jay Walker. Now, can I get your name?"

"… I'm Kai. Kai Smith."

What do you all think? I know it's a little bit slow at the moment but I promise the pace will pick up. And I want to give a big shout out to my Turtleneck Sweater Bunch 3.0! They inspired me to write again. But thank you for reading and I hoped you all enjoyed it. Let me know your thoughts in the comments/reviews and any suggestions I should take into consideration!

Until next time! Xoxo – ZaneLoverFan88