I felt like every time I saw her, she changed a little. Today, I noticed as she stood in front of me, the top of her head reached my nose. How odd. She was like a miniature doll a while ago. But that's not exactly the change I meant. I watched Akari grow up, and man did it fly by in an instant.
Last week she enrolled in the academy. Yesterday she was a full on chunin. Tomorrow she'll be a jonin, but who knows how long that'll take.
Before I begin my ramble, let me give you a little backround on who I am, your humble narrator. My name is Masaru, but you probably know my older brother, Izumo, a little better. I'm a bit older than Akari, about a four or five year gap. I was the gifted one in the family as the only member to reach the rank of jonin. I'm a nice guy, really, and had plenty of friends surrounding me throughout my life.
That's all of little matter, anyway. I want to tell you about Akari, the brilliant fool who only ever seemed to know where she was headed, when really she walked blindfolded the whole way. She was naturally very quiet and observant, and never liked to open her mouth very often. "There's more to hear than there is to say," she'd told me once when she was fourteen.
I guess that's a good place to start. She was fourteen.
I walked into the gym area to find her there with Sayomi, her close friend and roommate. It was cool inside, and light shined in harshly from the windows making shadows of them on the floor. They stood apart in opposition, clearly sparring. This was genjutsu, a specialty of both girls. Sayomi, very improperly nicknamed Sayu, called to Akari.
"You want to stop for a bit? Two minutes and we'll start back up again." Akari nodded briefly and turned to greet me with a light smile. She stood pretty close as we spoke, as she did with any friend. Sayu scampered over to meet me as well.
"How're you two doing? I hear you have another month before you're sent off on your big assignment, Akari." She nodded once in acknowledgment. I looked at Sayu, "You better get into her head if she is going to handle the interrogations."
Sayu scoffed, "She'll be more than ready. We Yamanaka's know our stuff. Plus, there are four other's working with Akari too. She'll do great." She grabbed Akari's arm in excitement. "She'll kick ass, they won't even know what hit them." Akari gave a friendly glance to Sayu before she turned back to me, this time more direct.
She pulled a noted from the inside of her jacket and pressed it into my palm, not letting go. "For Hikari Sensei. She wanted an itinerary of the mission." She spoke minimally, as she always did, with intimate gestures. What she asked me to do wasn't exactly lawful, but no one really cared. I nodded to her, "No problem." She smiled her gratitude and touched the back of my hand. Easily pulling back, she turned to see the clock on the wall.
Sayu looked at Akari. They both made eye contact for a moment before Sayu nodded.
"Are you gonna stick around long?" Sayu asked. It was clear they were short for time, so I didn't want to be too much of a distraction. Akari immediately recognized how it sounded. "Stay, Masaru, it's really no issue," she said encouragingly. I laughed, "No, I get it, you guys need to get back to training. I have to run a few errands myself. I'll see you around." Akari dipped her head to say goodbye as I waved and walked out into the cold.
Sayu stretched her arms and hummed. "Come one, we got, like, twenty minutes before the kiddy class begins and we're outta here." She bent down to her bag and took a quick drink of water. Akari moved back into position and waited as Sayu jogged to her place and clapped her hands. "Let's go!"
It was resistance. Sayu's thoughts came clear to Akari through the technique. Can I identify your memories? No? Okay, good. Can I alter your thoughts? Not really. Keep going. Have you entered my thoughts? Nope, but I saw you go for it. Now I would know you were a spy. Try again.
It was tedious and difficult. Akari had been going through the same process for the last two months. This mission was a pivotal point in her career. If she messed up- well, there was no room for that. There would be trouble, and she'd be dead.
They repeated the process over and over, with gradual improvement each time as Akari experimented with methods.
Sayu knew what she was doing. She knew Akari had already mastered resistance at this level. Now she just needed to teach her how to identify specific memories.
You've let me into your thoughts? What are you doing? I can just find what I like now. Hey, we're training. Stop being lazy! Oh. Hold on. I can't find a thing I'm searching for. I'm an idiot, I never thought of this. Do it again! I think this will save you're ass when the time comes.
Their eyes shot open. "That was great, Akari! What you did makes me think I know what's in your head. You don't resist the technique altogether, you block only the important stuff. Is that easier for you?" Sayu bounded over to her and grabbed her elbows. Akari shook her head.
"Whatever, we'll make it so it's just as easy," Sayu assured. "I don't know how to even do the stuff you're doing, funny, huh?" They walked towards their bags on the ground. "Here," Sayu said, offering water. "I just know my end of things. I was a genjutsu specialist in another life, I swear. Alas, I only have eyes for my charming explosives," she said giggling and toying with an explosive tag hanging off her jacket.
Akari heard a high pitched flurry moving closer to the gym. The children's classes were about to begin. She swung her bag over her shoulder and looked over to her friend.
"Just a second, I just caught a freaking headache... Yeah, I know you have one too. You're use to it. Some of us don't do this on a daily basis... I think my head's gonna melt." Sayu shook her head and followed Akari to the door.
"You know, this sort of thing is dangerous to get too wrapped up in. Be careful, okay?"