A Day in the Life
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Second entry.
I just remembered that I never wrote about my current life; my name is now Kimura Koharu, I am female with black hair and blue eyes. My mother, Kimura Akira, died during childbirth and my twin, Kimura Kohaku, died sometime after we turned three, having fallen sick and never gotten better. Kohaku's death was the final straw for my father, Kimura Kosuke, who decided that we needed a change in scenery.
So it was by age four (birthday October 5- the month is a recurring date of birth between lives) that I found out that I was in Naruto given my father decided to move to Konohagakure (oddly enough, at the time I was wondering if it would be considered an anime or manga or if the category would be shared- maybe if I do get shunted into a seventh life I could draw something like Haikyuu or Shugo Chara or Fruit Basket, surely my life expectancy would go up in those worlds?). Five days after age four, I found out where in the timeline I was as the Kyuubi ravaged the village.
At the great age of four and five days, I became an orphan- my father dying by pushing me out of the way of falling rubble. I was fortunate enough that a passing kunoichi had snatched me up, making sure that at least my father hadn't died for nothing.
[It's my sixth time losing my family. It doesn't get easier, it's always terrible having to continue without them- it always fills me with regrets about what I should have done or said before it was too late. But. Well, it's something you can get used to, something you can learn to move on from- dwelling on what I lost does no good, it's a path that leads to madness.]
Here we are at the present; I am living a Konoha's orphanage, which is now overcrowded due to an influx of orphans as pre-Kyuubi had been a baby boom period. My kunoichi savoir has dropped in twice to check up on me, so I've learned her name- Kurama Uroko, chūnin.
Kimura Koharu : October 31, Age 4.
Sleep is good.
Sleep is awesome.
People whom interrupt sleep are terrible, horrible, evil people.
"I hate you." Koharu told her cheerful, morning person of a teammate. Well, she tried to say that but all that came out was a grumpy mumble of, "I 'ate 'oo."
Shiho smiled. It was a nice smile, all straight and white teeth, but it was also a smile the hid evil. "Even among shinobi, cannibalism is frowned up."
"Tornado of hatred." She said fervently, inwardly pleased that it came out correctly.
Her teammate and neighbor blinked at that. "...we have time to stop for breakfast."
Well, that changed everything. Koharu decided as she made an abrupt turn into a small doughnut shop.
"I can't believe you spent 182 ryō on doughnuts." Shiho said a bit after they'd left the small shop.
Koharu took a bite out of her plain doughnut, inwardly mourning the absence of Krispy Kreme. "You can't just have one doughnut."
Which was true but it was more a habit of buying a baker's dozen any time she went for doughnuts, getting more then she ate in one sitting meant leftovers- not that she couldn't eat all of them on her own now with her ninja metabolism.
Shiho, who had gotten two cream cheese doughnuts with her milk, said nothing and Koharu took a drink from her hot chocolate with satisfaction.
...
"You performed satisfactorily." Tokuma-sensei decided after a moment, quirking a small smirk when the three genin flopped to the ground in relief. He squatted so they were eye-level but didn't sit down like they were. "I believe it's time for you to start developing your own fighting style beyond what the academy taught, we'll start by selecting a weapon for you to learn."
Makaro straightened, "Sensei, Otousan said that he'd start teaching me to use a kanabō once you allowed us to move beyond the basics."
"Alright." the Hyuuga nodded then asked, "Shiho, Koharu?"
Shiho bit her lip then said, "I think I want to try a naginata."
Protector of the Small, Koharu thought briefly before focusing on a weapon. Kunai and shuriken covered ranged weapons, kunai could also be used in place of a dagger so there wasn't any need for that. Kusarigama seemed pretty cool- There wasn't any way to explain how her mind made the leap in thought but her mind was suddenly filled with a single name:
Hibari Kyōya.
"Tonfa!" Koharu blurted, her mind a jumble of 'hell yeah' and 'nobody would even know if I used his catch phrase'. "I want to learn how to use tonfa."
Tokuma-sensei eyed her for a bit and Koharu tried not to look guilt (It doesn't count a copyright.) or too excited (I will bite people to death!) before deciding to just not ask. "I'll leave your father to teach you then, Makaro. I'll ask Onēsan to teach you how to wield a naginata, Shiho." Sensei paused before admitting, "I don't actually know anyone who uses tonfa. It's a melee weapon though, so we'll be working on close combat until I can find someone to help you Koharu."
"Yes Sensei." They chorused though Koharu got the inkling that she would soon regret her decision- she'd gotten the same feeling when she'd first entered the Academy.
The Hyuuga nodded before standing, "For today, we'll start on tree walking. You'll need to use a consistent amount of chakra to stick your feet to the tree, be warned that too little chakra will destroy your grip while too much will expel you from the tree."
There was a beat of stillness before Shiho and Koharu turned towards Makaro, chorusing together, "After you Senpai."
The Akimichi sputtered but eventually got up first, making his way towards a tree- they then got a practical demonstration of what their sensei meant by 'expel you from the tree'.
Then Tokuma-sensei was before them, eyebrow raised and the two hurried to start practicing.
...
"Alright!" Tokuma-sensei called out suddenly. "That's enough!"
Koharu's concentration slipped and she was falling to the ground for what seemed like the hundredth time. From her spot flat on the ground she let out a dull, "Oww."
At least that time she'd just been starting her attempt so it wasn't much of a fall, though it also meant she didn't have enough time to turn herself so she didn't land on her back.
Makaro, whose loss of focus had him exploding from the tree in a spectacular spray of splinters, let out a sympathetic noise that might have been actual words but came out as, "Nnrghh."
Shiho, who mastered tree walking within the first dozen attempts, landed lightly- the bastard. "Sensei?"
"It's about time to get a mission, though we can get a late lunch." the Hyuuga said.
The Akimichi of the team let out a disgruntled, "Ffrrhglmn."
"Is Sensei paying?" Koharu added, arching to look at her teacher without getting off the ground.
"It's Tuesday." Tokuma-sensei said simply.
Koharu got up.
Discounting Sunday as they didn't meet then, Tokuma-sensei provided the majority of their lunches- his assigned days were Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Makaro tended to bring lunch on Wednesdays and Koharu alternated on providing lunch on Saturdays with Shiho.
"It's Shiho's turn to pick." The Hyuuga added.
The blond perked up, "Really? I thought-" Shiho cut herself off, obviously not wanting to change his mind. "Can we go to, um, Noriko's?"
"...yes." the Jōnin decided after a beat, leading the way. "If the rest are fine with yatai or konbini food for Thursday and Friday."
Noriko's was an Izakaya that was settled near Naka River, a popular one that'd be starting to fill up now. It wasn't outright expensive, not like other places, but it was a place you could sit down in and gradually order food throughout your stay- steadily rising your bill. Three other people, including a still growing Akimichi (even if Makaro didn't eat as much as the main family), would definitely higher the bill.
Izakaya tend to have tabs but, well, shinobi were never comfortable owing someone- a bit of a bad idea in their business.
"Once I've got you set up with your weapon teachers," Tokuma-sensei told them as the building came in view, it wasn't far from their usual training grounds. "I'll start taking missions."
Shiho frowned, glanced at her teammates then said. "I thought you still went on missions."
"Occasionally. Rarely." the Hyuuga corrected, "Only if I'm specifically asked for, otherwise the only missions I go on are the ones I'm with you for."
Which, given the amount of time they spent together was a bit worrying- though Koharu was wondering just how much they'd ruined their teacher's personal life that he couldn't go on missions with friends. It also told how much of a mother hen their teacher could be that he didn't leave them alone unless necessary- Koharu didn't know about her teammates but Sensei did pop in on Sundays to make sure she didn't spend the entire day in bed, though he was kind enough to wait until 10:00.
"Irasshaimase." A rather short, rather plump woman said as they entered. "Is it just you four?" She waited a moment for Sensei to confirm that it was just them before saying. "Follow me, please."
They wound up at a western table (though it was technically referred to as a Suna-style table) with drinks (all water under Sensei's stern glare) and their first round of food (yakiniku, tonkatsu, yakitori, miso and rice) ordered in an astonishingly short amount of time.
Koharu let out a soft whistle, "Impressive."
"That would impress you." Shiho huffed, amused.
Koharu shrugged, "I've never been here before. I mean I've heard about it but, well, I'm more of a yatai, ramen-ya or konbini kind of person if I don't cook. Doughnuts are the exception." With that, she took a drink.
"I prefer izakaya and shokudo." Shiho said.
Makaro, because apparently they were sharing this, said, "When Mom doesn't cook I go to yatai or yakitori-ya."
"Teishoku-ya or tonkatsu-ya." Tokuma-sensei told them.
Conversation came easily though there were moments of pauses since they'd spent most today and yesterday together leaving little new to tell each other about, though Koharu was suitably apologetic when her doughnuts came up and promised to share next time feigning deafness when their teacher mentioned how it wasn't a suitable breakfast for a growing shinobi. Makaro started on about his excitement over learning to use a kanabō with Shiho following by admitting that her mother used when she was alive.
"Eh?" Koharu blinked, mouthful of ramen.
Makaro offered, "Why'd you pick tonfa?"
"Mm." She made a vague noise then swallowed. "Does it matter?"
Shiho pushed her glasses up, the lenses glinting ominously. "Avoidance. Is the reason embarrassing, Koharu-kun?"
Koharu distantly wondered why everyone seemed to use '-kun' with her but was more focused on trying to explain her reason without mentioning a manga that didn't even exist in this world. "Um. I felt I could do with a melee weapon?"
"Koharu." Tokuma-sensei didn't say anything else but his eyebrow was raised as he looked at her.
She'd have been embarrassed over how quickly she folded if she didn't know that of her teammates, she lasted the longest against their teacher sending them a look. "...there's a character I like in a manga who uses them."
A beat then-
"Of course." Shiho snorted and Makaro grinned, at least attempting to contain his amusement to non-vocal levels.
Tokuma-sensei shook his head, apparently deciding not to comment. "It's time to go." He said standing up, paused and asked. "You'll only be choosing your weapon based on this character right? Nothing else?"
Koharu thought of the glee over potentially using 'I will bite you to death' in the future and tried for an innocent look though she only managed to say, "Um."
"...right. Let's just- go get a mission."