For a moment everything was quiet, no one moved, only stared. Soon enough however, The old man let out a brief chuckle and closed his eyes. Yet, my gaze remained fierce.
"What a strong will you must have," He leaned forward and his eyes snapped open instantaneously. I fought against my instinct, which was telling me to step back out of the danger zone, his elderly appearance was clearly a façade. "None the less, how do you plan on convincing me you aren't a threat to our village?"
I smirked, of course it wasn't going to be as easy as asking please. To walk into one of the largest and most successful ninja training villages, you had to be expected to show your true worth.
"Look, I may not be much, but that's why I'm here after all. I need to be able to hold my own out in this brutal world. What better way to do that than become a great ninja. So, what reason is there to fear a child in training? If you honestly think I'm any type of dangerous go ahead and watch me all you want." I crossed my arms and patiently awaited his response. By the look of it he wasn't yet satisfied with my reasoning.
"I suppose that's understandable, but you still haven't answered my question, how are we to trust you?"
"Fine, if my word isn't enough for you, let my actions speak for me. Allow me to show you the fullest extent of my intentions and assess my honest virtues." This seem to suffice, he relaxed and once again his mannerly appearance returned.
"Very well. Although, I have to say I am quite impressed, there hasn't been such a young and determined child confront me like this in a very long time. If your intent is as true as you claim it to be, you'll have no problem fitting in. But be warned, if in any way you become untrustworthy, we will have no choice but to take you down as we would any rogue ninja."
"I understand perfectly." I said with content, the old man smiled letting out a small chuckle as I let my arms fall to my sides. I flinched and almost reached out to cradle my injury, but I didn't want to show him any weakness, instead I bit the inside of my cheek and endured the pain. For a second, I was sure the Hokage noticed but even if he did he didn't comment on it, he did however wave his hand to call over one of the ninja that had been standing patiently in the corner of the room. The ninja complied wordlessly and stood next to the old man who motioned for him to lean in closer. Quietly the two began to whisper amongst one another, nodding every few seconds and glance back towards me once or twice. I couldn't hear a word of what they said but it was no doubt about me, likely about what to do with me, I had just showed up unannounced so of course there would be complications.
While I stood there thinking it out the two raised their heads and the ninja vanished in a burst of smoke, I waved my hand rapidly in front of nose, trying my best to chase away the stench of it. It was already too late and the smell chocked me.
"So then Kanra, I want to ask you some things and trust you will answer them as honestly as possible." He announced, I nodded and he stood slowly from his chair. He stepped around the desk and paced around me carefully, I made sure to keep my eyes on him though, hardly letting him out of my sight for more than a second.
"Taking in to consideration how young you are and where you come from I would expect you to have little to no training. However," He stopped in front of me staring down, face mostly shadowed by his hat. "You appear to be more experienced than I first thought, so tell me, how much do you actually know about being a shinobi?" I wasn't going to lie, his eyes unsettled me, so I gather my courage and answered him.
"Maybe not as much as those who have been properly trained, but I know how to take care of myself. In other words, I've got the basics down and then some."
"I see, so you came here alone, correct?"
"Yeah, what of it?"
"Haven't you anyone to take care of you?"
"...No." I didn't need to say anything else, I didn't want to and if he asked why I wouldn't tell him. I am entitled to a few secrets after all. Surprisingly he didn't go any further with the subject and let it drop, instead he asked me more about the things a proper ninja should have known. Things about chakra, the names of all the current kages, the different types of weapons a good ninja should always carry. Two of the most important things you learn when traveling alone are soak up whatever info you can, and if you don't know something lie, but lie confidently.
"So are we done here?" I asked restlessly, tired from standing. The Hokage nodded and held his hands behind his back as he addressed me.
"Yes, I believe so. I think now that I understand you a little more I can make a genuine decision. I thought perhaps that we could wait to enroll you in training when this years academy students graduated, but looking back on our little interview I think it would really be a waste of time if we made you do that. So I insist that we move you into the class immediately." I blinked in shock, I hadn't expected this to go over so smoothly, in fact I figured it would take much longer. Then again the deal can't be that great unless there's a catch to it.
"So what made you change your mind?" I asked in suspicion.
"Well if you must know, it will make watching you much easier, we would be able to easily know your location. And once the students are put into squads, your assigned sensei will also report to us your progress." I should have known, it made so much more sense now. They would know exactly where I would be almost everyday, I guess I underestimated them.
"Well since that's taken care of, and it's pretty late, I think it's about time I leave."
"I nearly forgot about your living arrangements-" I stopped him with a dismissive wave of my good arm.
"Don't bother, it's far too late. Besides I'd prefer sleeping out under the stars tonight." I explained, this seemed to upset those in the room. Ignoring them I rolled my eyes, in seconds I was at the window, quickly I opened it and threw myself down the building. Landing with a soft grunt I turned to dash off back in the direction of the front gates, back in the office I could hear old man hokage telling them to remain with him. I mentally thanked him for the privacy.
As I had predicted, it was well into the night, the streets were empty, the lights of homes were dimmed or out completely. I could only hear the sounds of my quick breaths and my sandals as they made contact with ground. Out of breath and bleeding heavily from my arm I made it back to the small outpost where the guards had been, sliding quietly over the counter I ducked down and began rummaging around.
"Got it~" I whispered triumphantly to myself. It was common for an outpost to store a few medical supplies in case of surprise attacks and other such situations. With a small amount of difficulty I peeled away my kimono sleeve to assess the damage. The wound itself hadn't been bad, however since my arrival I had done a lot of moving. The cut had split itself wider by an inch or two and was starting to scab over near the edges. I took one of the clean cloths and dowsed it in disinfectant, taking a deep breath I pressed the rag against my arm.
As soon as it made contact I wanted to scream, the medicine stung beyond belief but I wouldn't risk an infection. After a few long minutes I discarded the cloth and carefully wrapped my forearm with a roll of bandages. Finally the ache began to settle down to a manageable level and I let out a relieved sigh.
"Still only day one and I manage to get myself injured." I groaned to myself as I stood, tomorrow was sure to be an eventful day.
Sorry that this chapter is pretty shitty, I just wanted to get it out of the way so we can get to the action but I don't want you to miss out on the thoughts of our hero(?) or whatever they might be, ya never know :DDDD But yeah, I'm gonna try to upload again soon with a much longer chapter, so look forward to that soon~ \(ouo)/ If there was anything to correct or you want to ask don't forget to comment!
