Chapter 7:

I was the earliest in the classroom. The Sun wasn't even up yet, and lessons weren't due to start for another hour.

Anko had wanted to walk me here, saying it was something she should do since it was my 'first day of school'. That had been part of the reason why I had come so early. She was probably still asleep at this hour. She'd been so exhausted from her own training yesterday she didn't even notice me slipping out.

The other reason why was because I'd never gone to the Academy before. It was unfamiliar territory, and any place you didn't have an escape route out of was, by default, a dangerous place. So by the time the first student walked in, I had contingencies for situations that involved chemical, foreign-nin, and explosive threats.

I was sitting at the very back at the room, in a corner seat that overlooked the rest of the room. My new classmate had obviously only just woken up. He was older than me - the normal age of Third Years was ten. His brown hair was messy and unkempt. His eyes were barely open. Upon sitting down in the first row, he immediately yawned loudly before curling his head and arms onto the table and promptly fell asleep.

I was beyond words. He hadn't even noticed me, a complete stranger, sitting in his classroom with no explanation. And this child wanted to be a ninja? Briefly, I considered punishing him for his negligence and lack of awareness. It was a common practice in Kiri, and they called it pranks. Sticking thumbtacks onto people's chairs. Setting tripwires that activated teargas canisters. Hiding flashbangs in the drawers underneath our tables. Our instructors then generally turned the other way as long as the victims involved didn't have to go anywhere beyond the nurse's office. They thought it was a good way to train children to stay vigilant. Naturally, Yagura and I never fell for one, even though we were targeted quite a lot.

The boy began to snore. I reconsidered. I was certain what fell under as 'pranks' in Kiri would probably be frowned upon here in Konoha. It would be unwise to create such an unfavorable first impression. So instead, I kept quiet and remained in my seat, practicing the Petal Star Jutsu while waiting.

The shuffling sound of footsteps made me disable the Jutsu. I waited patiently in my seat for my next classmate to arrive. Unlike the first, he actually seemed prepared for class. He was chubby, but at least he seemed awake and alert. He swept the room with his eyes. I prepared my rehearsed introduction in my mind.

And then he shrugged and took his seat next to the first boy.

I frowned. He hadn't seen me either. He tapped the sleeping boy on the shoulder, waking him up. Then they began to discuss about the latest manga comics.

The classroom was designed like a lecture theater, meaning the back row was the most elevated. That meant that while I could easily see them, they would actually have to tilt their heads up slightly to see me, especially since I was short. In theory, if I sunk into my seat, I could easily avoid detection for the rest of the day. In fact, I could probably get away with it for the whole year, assuming nobody ever sat up top. But doing so wouldn't help anybody. I was stuck in this Academy for the rest of the year - Anko and Minato made sure of it - so I might as well make do with what I had.

Still though, I was curious to see how long I could sit up here without anybody noticing. I became disappointed with every new person that entered. This was the village that won the Third Shinobi War, I reminded myself. And their Shinobi-hopefuls didn't even bother to look up.

It wasn't long before the first half of the classroom was filled. Mindless chatter filled the room. By the time the people coming in did notice me, it was already too late. Too many people were already in their seats, pretending everything was completely normal. So they ended up assuming my presence was normal as well.

I could already tell this was going to be a bad day. Not wanting to interact with imbeciles and children was half the reason I had been in such a rush to graduate in Kiri. The other half being my desire to take part in the War itself.

And then, amid the cacophony of excited children's voices, a lone sentence caught my attention.

"So Itachi-sama, I'll see you at lunch?" The speaker was a young girl standing at the edge of our classroom, not daring to come in. She looked to be my age, and for a tiny moment, I thought she was Itachi. She had the same black hair, even tied into the same ponytail as the Uchiha Heiress. The distinctive mole beneath her right eye immediately identified herself as someone different, however. That, and the fact that she had said Itachi's name, and Itachi wasn't the type of person to refer to herself in third-person.

Whoever the Uchiha girl (the distinctive fan was printed on the back of her blouse) was talking to must have said yes (or nodded silently, since Itachi was probably involved), because the next moment she seemed very happy and skipped away.

And then Itachi appeared into view.

Calm and composed, she made her way into the room. Conversations were interrupted as heads turned to follow her every moment. There were looks of awe and admiration, and there were sneers of jealousy and hatred. Yagura and I had received the sane treatment back in Kiri.

Then Itachi stopped. She was on the stairs, looking up. Straight at me. Her eyes widened by a fraction of a millimeter, but I saw it nonetheless. Uchiha Itachi was surprised.

"Kagura-kun," she said neutrally, her face stone-cold again. "What are you doing here?"

There were confused looks as people who did not notice me earlier finally registered my presence, and the people who did notice and ignored me realized that I was not actually supposed to be here.

"Who are you?!" the sleeping boy stood up straight, jabbing a finger in my direction. "I've been here the whole morning and I didn't even see you!"

"I've been sitting behind you ever since you came in," I said, slightly amused at his subsequently stunned reaction. Then I turned towards Itachi. "And I am here to learn to be a ninja."

Itachi's lips dipped downwards. She was understandably suspicious.

"Wait a minute, you're new!" the same boy said. "This class is for third years! Newbies go to the first floor!"

I wanted to teach him a lesson. It was frankly revolting, the way the boy seemed to assume he was better than me when he was the definition of incompetent. I had dozens of opportunities to kill him earlier, and I was sorely regretting not capitalizing on one of them.

I stood up and feigned surprise. "Oh! This is the third year? I think there must have been some mistake," I tried to pretend to be embarrassed as I walked down the stairs.

"Yea, that's right," the boy said smugly. "The beginners belong in the first floor."

"Saisu-san," Itachi said hesitantly. "I don't-"

But it was already too late for Itachi to warn him. I pretended to trip down the stairs, and she cut her words short to try to catch me.

"Pshh! He can't even use the stairs properly, and he wants to be a ninja?" Saisu mocked, and the rest of the class exploded into laughter.

I paid his words no mind. We'll see who's laughing in just another moment. Still mid-air, I took advantage of the chaos to flash through several hand-seals while molding my chakra independently to compensate for the dozen or so hand-seals I'd managed to drop for the Jutsu.

A feeling of weightlessness overcame me. My body suddenly felt as though it was brimming with energy, and I forced that energy in the direction of Saisu.

The world blurred as I raced through the crowd of people. I had to turn my body slightly to avoid colliding into people, including Saisu himself, and I stopped directly behind him. It only took a few heartbeats for me to get my bearings, and they had only just registered my sudden disappearance.

"Did he just... disappear?" someone asked.

The Shunshin was something I had learnt more out of convenience than for any combat purpose. Due to the many hand-seals and the short period of disorientation upon arrival, it was not exactly ideal for combat, unless you were running away. That being said, ever since my training with Orochimaru began, and dodging became my most important skill, I took the time to master it and was still in the midst of learning to do it without any hand-seals at all. Currently, I was still capped at three seals.

I placed a hand on Saisu's shoulder, and he jumped on the spot.

"When did you get behind me?" he shouted in panic after turning around.

"I've been behind you since the beginning, remember?" I smiled innocently. "Now come, Saisu-san. I will show you to the first floor. That is where beginners like yourself go to, right?"

It took a second for him to realize I was insulting him. By then, the whole class had grown quiet at my little display, and was now waiting for his reaction. His face contorted with rage and became red as hot-tempered blood raced into his face. His childish pride was stopping him from realizing I was not the beginner he thought I was, and that was a mistake he was going to pay for dearly.

His body telegraphed a punch. His right leg took a step back, and his arm began to wind up. Mentally, I shook my head. That was a punch that packed power, not speed. And if there was one thing Saisu should have learnt from the demonstration earlier, it was that I was much faster than him.

By the time he finished transferring his body weight into his fist and hurled it towards me, I was more than ready for it. I wasn't going to try to catch it or block it. Months of fighting Anko and Orochimaru had taught me such a course of action was inadvisable unless I was certain my opponent was weaker than me. That was not the case here. Saisu was four years older than me, and he was big even among the ten-year-olds. So instead I tilted my body to the left to avoid it. It would prevent me from taking control of the tempo in the fight, but at the very least, I wouldn't get hit.

"I think that's enough, children."

A new voice, one too low to belong to a child, emerged. Saisu's eyes widened in fright, and he immediately straightened to attention. The other students very quickly did the same.

"Good morning, Daikoku Sensei!" they chorused together.

Sensei?

I turned around. There was man standing at the table. I hadn't even realized when he'd entered. If the bandana-styled forehead protector and Konoha vest wasn't enough proof for me, his stealthy act was more than sufficient to convince me he was a real Shinobi.

He was still slightly chubby, though I supposed a job like a classroom teacher might cause some ninjas to grow out of shape. At least his goatee was well-trimmed, indicating that he had not degraded into an undisciplined and lazy slob.

He was looking straight at me. "Sensei," I nodded a greeting towards him when I realized he was waiting.

That seemed to satisfy him. "I'm the Chunin Sensei of this class, Daikoku Funeno," he told me. "I have been informed of your... unique addition to this class. Please take any empty seat, and we will begin lessons immediately."

"Wait, Sensei!" Saisu protested, "we have no idea who the heck this guy is!"

"Really?" Daikoku said in surprise. "But you seemed so chummy with him when I walked in." That's when I realized he was faking it.

Saisu gulped.

"Sit down, everybody. Saisu, try not to lose to any more six-year-olds, okay?"

Embarrassed, Saisu huffed to his seat, and the rest of the class shuffled back to their original places as well. I saw Itachi stalk her way to my initial seat.

"You stay," Daikoku said to me, "Saisu is correct. Would you like to introduce yourself?"

Despite the smile and his warm tone, Daikoku was still my superior officer. Which meant that my preferred answer of 'no, I would not like to introduce myself' wasn't a very wise choice. And also, it wouldn't be a very friendly thing to do, and making friends was my primary objective here, wasn't it?

I walked to the center of the class and coughed into my hand to get their attention.

"Good morning everyone. You may call me Kagura."

Silence.

Some of the students began to blink, and they looked at each other in confusion.

"Wait, that's it?" someone in the middle shouted when he realized I had nothing else to add.

I nodded, and looked back to Daikoku for permission to return.

"Uhm... that's a little sparse, isn't it? The only thing we learnt about you is your name."

"Is that not enough?" I asked. "Information and knowledge can be weaponized as much as chakra and metal."

Daikoku frowned, and the rest of the class looked at me like I was crazy. Except Itachi, who I saw slap her palm to her forehead.

"You're not wrong, but how about you tell us some interesting things about yourself? Hobbies, favorite food, you know, stuff like that?"

Sure, I thought. There were lots of interesting things about me. I'm the Jinchuuriki for the Sanbi. I was sent here by Kiri to kill you all. My teacher is Orochimaru. It didn't help that almost everything about me was confidential. As a Chunin, I suspected that Daikoku didn't know anything beyond the Orochimaru bit.

"I like eating meat," I finally said. I looked to Daikoku, who seemed to sigh in defeat.

"There you have it, class. Kagura likes eating meat. Please give him a warm welcome."

The applause was fairly weak. "What kind of introduction was that?" Saisu muttered to the boy next to him as I walked up, "everybody likes eating meat."

He wasn't wrong, but I glared at him anyway and he quickly shut up when he saw.

"Anyway," Daikoku continued to speak after I sidestepped into the seat next to Itachi, "Kagura-kun's a bit like Itachi-chan. You won't be seeing him around next year, either."

The moment he said that, we both turned to look at each other. Itachi quickly turned away, but I could see the gears in her head whirring at that piece of information.

"You mean he's super strong and super smart?" someone asked.

"Yes, I suppose so."

I could feel the class staring at me again. One person in particular stared harder than the rest.

I waved jovially to Saisu, who immediately gulped and turned back to the front, his face paling with every second. Good, I thought, now you know who's better.


I couldn't tell if Itachi was paying attention to class or not. She seemed to nod her head whenever Daikoku said something important, but when I took a look at the textbook she was flipping, it contained all sorts of information about the physics involved in Shurikenjutsu.

We were in the middle of a history class.

"That technique you were using earlier," she said softly to me once she realized that I was not paying attention either, "that was the Shunshin, right?"

I nodded. Let's see how the silent-response treatment works on you, I thought.

"I thought so," she said to herself. "You're special too, aren't you?"

Another nod.

She suddenly frowned, catching on to what I was doing. I broke out into a grin. "It's not funny," she looked slightly annoyed. "Sometimes I think too much. That's why I don't say anything."

"Maybe I'm thinking too much as well," I returned. "You're not the only special one."

She rolled her eyes. "Who taught you the Shunshin?" she asked.

"My teacher."

"Who is your teacher?"

"Some Jounin." It wasn't a lie. Technically speaking, Orochimaru was a Jounin.

Her eyes narrowed. "You are being difficult on purpose."

"You're asking all the difficult questions," I responded. I would be disobeying the direct orders of the Hokage if I gave Itachi the answers she wanted. That, and winding her up was fun. It was like stealing food from Yagura.

She blinked. Then there was a momentary intake of breath as she understood what I was implying. "I see. I will stop prying. You have your reasons, I suppose."

"I do," I replied.

There was silence as she seemed to become absorbed in her book again.

"The Shunshin," she said again after a while. "Can you teach it to me?"

I considered it for a moment. Teaching Jutsus to random Academy Students was not very smart, and highly illegal as well. Then I realized that Anko and Orochimaru were basically doing that exact thing to me. I was, technically speaking, still a civilian after all.

"It is difficult," I warned her. "And uncomfortable. When I first learned it, I ran into several walls and could not stop vomiting for a whole week."

She let out a small giggle. "When I first performed the Fireball Jutsu the first time, I burnt my throat. I know the risks of learning Jutsu, Kagura-kun. I will be careful."

"Alright. Pick a date, and I will show it to you then. But you have to be prepared, too," I said, giving her a knowing smile.

"Prepared for what?" she asked, clearly not understanding what I was trying to get at.

"You have to have a Jutsu I can learn too."

She blinked. Then she nodded her head. "I think I have something that you will like."


There was a five minute gap between every lesson period. That short buffer allowed students to take a short break, in case they needed to use the bathroom or something.

I stood up, wanting to do just that.

And was accosted by a throng of students before I even made it down the stairs.

"Kagura-san," a boy grabbing my arm called out to me, "teach me that disappearing technique of yours!"

"Kagura-san," a girl batted her eyes at me, "would you like to have lunch later?"

"Kagura-san! Be my friend!" Now, wasn't that just a bit too direct?

It was all 'Kagura-san this' and 'Kagura-san that', and suddenly everybody seemed to want to get close to me. Did they not understand that I was leagues above them? That I could defeat and even kill every single one of them if I wanted? Why were they being so friendly when I was their enemy?

I blinked. This isn't Kiri anymore, I had to remind myself. In Kiri, every person stronger than you was your potential murderer when Graduation came. They were your enemies. But this was Konoha, where the strong not only offered protection, but could even act as sources of knowledge.

There was a small smirk on Itachi's face. Now I knew why she had chosen to sit all the way at back, away from the parasites that seemed to want to attach themselves to me.

I wanted to snap in irritation at them. All I had wanted was to use the bathroom without being swarmed. I couldn't even Shunshin my way out because one, there were too many people blocking my path, and two, it would probably only encourage them.

I only saw one way out. Pooling chakra at my feet, I jumped high and did a flip in the air, straightening my legs such that they would end up kicking the ceiling.

They did, but instead of rebounding back to the ground they remained stuck there, and I was running from the ceiling and towards the washroom outside as fast as I could.

"Did you see that?" somebody shouted.

"Kagura can walk on the ceiling!"

"How does he do that?"

I was amazed at the ignorance of the Academy Students. Not knowing how to do it was one thing, but being oblivious to the basic applications of chakra was something unforgiveable.

How the heck did they even win the War?


"Kagura!" Anko shouted angrily once I reached the lab, "I can't believe you just left without me!"

"you were still asleep," I explained calmly.

"You left at three in the morning!"

"A Shinobi should always be prepared to act, regardless of the time and place," I said sagely to her.

"Don't give me that crap! You just didn't want me to go with you!"

I shrugged.

She gasped in horror. "It's true, isn't it? You're embarrassed of me!"

I didn't dignify that with a response, and she finally put down the childish facade.

"So?" Her face turned curious. "How was it?"

"The people there are stupid," I said. Then, thinking about Itachi, "well most of them, anyway. They didn't even know that chakra can be used to walk on walls!"

"Well duh," Anko said as if what I had said made perfect sense. "They're Academy Students. They're not supposed to know that much."

"Then how are they ever going to be prepared to be Shinobi?"

"Their Jounin Sensei will teach them," she shrugged. "Or if they fail the second exam, their Chunnin team leader will help them."

I blinked. "what Jounin Sensei? Second Exam?" I'd never heard of such terms before.

Anko stared at me for a while. Then she broke into a big grin. "Finally! Something I know that Kagura-kouhai doesn't!"

"Can you just explain, please?" I asked, exasperated.

"Mmmm, what exactly happens to Genin in Kiri after they graduate?"

"In times of war, they go straight to the front," I said, remembering what the Kiri instructors had told us. "But in peacetime... nothing, I guess? You just start taking missions to make a living. You can either do them solo or as a team, but it's completely up to you so long as the job gets done."

"Wait, what?" Anko seemed really surprised. "Then how do you learn new stuff?"

"Your clan, of course." Wasn't it the same in Konoha? They had the most clan abilities and bloodlines, and it was no secret that clan students in the Academy had a headstart. "Unless you get lucky and someone offers to mentor you. That's usually the case for the Seven Swordsmen."

"And if you don't have a clan or a mentor?"

"Uh," I thought about it for a few seconds, trying to remember what I could of the Shinobi sytem in Kiri. "There's the library - you can find reference books and jutsu lists there. Or if you have friends. But you're basically on your own."

"Wow," Anko gaped. "Just wow. I knew none of the other villages focused on teamwork as much as Konoha, but Kiri... Kiri's a whole new level."

I frowned. They all seemed to think that. "Can you just explain how it works here in Konoha now?"

"Well after you graduate, they split you up into teams - three per team - and they're called Genin Teams." I heard that phrase tossed around a lot, now I finally knew what it meant. "Once you pass your graduation exam, your team is assigned a Jounin, who acts as a teacher and team leader."

Wait what? Were there even enough Jounin in the village to train that many Genin? "Isn't that a huge waste of Jounin manpower?"

"Yea," Anko agreed, "it is. So the Jounins have the right to refuse any team they think is unworthy in a secret second exam. By the way, Academy Students aren't supposed to know this, so don't go blabbing about this to your classmates, okay? I'm only telling you because none of this applies to you anyway."

I nodded. It made sense for the Academy Students not to know this.

"So," Anko continued, "if the team passes. They stick with the Jounin, who trains them while leading them on missions. Then once the Jounin thinks that they're ready, the team is disbanded. This usually happens only after one or more of the Genins become Chunin."

"If they fail?"

"If they fail, they have three options. Go back to a special class for retainers in the Academy for another year, hoping you can pass the the next time. Or, they can join the reserve forces, who fall under the leadership of mostly Chunins, and they do the chore-like missions like patrols, guard duty, and even the administrative positions. The Jounins posted there usually try to help in their training as well, but the ratio's just too big for everyone to benefit. Few people in the reserve forces end up being anything more than a Tokubetsu Jounin. Most of them are stuck at Chunin."

"Wow," I leaned back. "Sounds like passing this second test really determines your path as a Shinobi. It really sounds your career is capped if you fail."

"It does," Anko seemed sympathetic, "for some, failing isn't an option. The second exam's just like the first official one. If you fail it three times, you don't get a fourth try."

Which led to the unsaid third option, of course. Washing out and quitting to be a Shinobi all together. Anko seemed to tell I had deduced this, and asked quietly. "Do you know the proportion of each cohort that ends up becoming Genin?"

I shook my head. No, I did not.

"Less than half."

I could feel my jaw unhinging itself. "Wow," I said in disbelief. "In Kiri we kill off half of every cohort, and we still have a higher graduation rate than Konoha."

Anko tried to hide her smile at my dark attempt at humor. She failed, and burst into laughter.

"Being a Shinobi is more than just difficult, you know?" she said between sniggers, "it's also very competitive. Some people just can't handle the stress and pressure."

"Huh," I said thoughtfully. "Itachi said that to me once."

"You should listen to her," Anko said. "She's a very smart girl, or so I hear."

"Yes, she is." I agreed. "That's why I like her."


After telling Anko that no, I did not have a girlfriend, at least a dozen times, someone knocked on the door to the lab.

Anko and I looked at each other momentarily. Orochimaru wasn't supposed to return anytime soon, and he would never actually knock.

Few people knew where Orochimaru's lab was. Even fewer came here willingly.

So it was with some sense of alertness and caution that we opened the door.

"Kagura-chan!"

And lo and behold, it was none other than Uzumake Kushina

I groaned.

Anko cursed.

All good things must come to an end, I thought as pair of slender fingers reached out to pinch my cheeks.

"Kushina-neeshan, wercome bark," I tried to say.

"I missed you so much Kagura-chan, yea!" To my relief, she let go of my cheeks. Then she tackled me in a hug.

"What are you doing here?" Anko demanded. "Can't you read the sign on the door? It says authorized personnel only!"

"As a Jounin of Konoha," Kushina smirked, "I am authorized everywhere. Keep that in mind, silly little chunin."

"That can't be true!" Anko crossed her arms and huffed. "I'm going to check the rules right now!"

"Why check the rules?" Kushina's smile got even wider, "when we can go and ask the Hokage himself directly, yea?"

Checkmate, Anko realized.

"Bleh!" Anko stuck a tongue out at her. "Just take Kagura and go to wherever you've planned to kidnap him already!"

Kushina sighed. "Unfortunately, Kagura and I don't have plans today. I'm here to see both you and Kagura." Anko blinked in surprise when she realized that for once, Kushina was looking for her as well.

"We don't?" I asked in surprise. That was the only reason she ever came here. Though it was more 'her' plans than 'ours'.

"Nuh uh," she shook her head. "I actually only came because somebody wanted me to introduce you two to him. I actually have to go already. I'm not done with my sealing project. But don't worry, Kagura-chan! I'll be back next week for lunch!" With a puff of smoke, she vanished.

I looked at Anko. Anko looked at me.

"Wait, where's this random dude who wants to meet us?"

"Why, I'm right here," a new voice chuckled, very deep and very familiar. And also very behind us.

We immediately reacted, Anko drew her kunai and I leaped backwards to prepare a water Jutsu.

"Jiraiya-sama!" Anko immediately recognized.

I recognized the man from Minato and Kushina's wedding. He wasn't someone you could forget easily, what with his large size, spiky white mane, and the red paint on his cheeks. Now that I was seeing him up close, there was also a wart on his nose, one I had not seen the last time.

"Yo," he waved.

Anko immediately kept her kunai and bowed in apology. "Sorry, we did not mean to raise our weapons at you."

I had to agree. The man was a Sannin, on the same caliber as Orochimaru. If he wanted to kill us, we'd already be dead. Raising our weapons really had no meaning.

"Ah don't worry about it," the man seemed to be in a good mood. Or perhaps he was just a naturally easygoing person. With Orochimaru as a teacher, everybody else always seemed to be in a good mood all the time. "I'd expect no less from the students of Orochimaru."

"Thank you. Your words are too kind," Anko said respectfully. It was always funny to see her personality flip one-eighty every time she was talking to someone she admired. As if doing so could actually hide and compensate for the crass and sadistic person she truly was. "But what brings you into our humble abode, Jiraiya-sama?"

"Bahaha!" Jiraiya broke into laughter. "So well-mannered! No wonder Orochimaru took you in! Your talented tongue must stroke his big ego everyday!" His gaze seemed intently fixed on Anko's chest, where two small lumps were growing. She was, after all, still a girl growing through puberty.

Anko's eye twitched. Was it me, or was there some kind of sexual innuendo buried in there? Because Jiraiya's tone really made it seem like the latter.

"How old are you anyway?" Jiraiya asked.

"Twelve," Anko replied easily. That was hardly fair. I still remember being slapped by her that one time I asked her.

"Oh," Jiraiya seemed suddenly put off, losing some of the enthusiasm he had earlier. "That's too young."

Anko's eye twitched again, except this time she clenched her fist as well.

"Tell you what, pretty girl. I'll come back when you're six years older, and then we can-"

Pow!

I must have blinked at the wrong moment, because I completely missed what just happened. Anko's hand was suddenly extended, and Jiraiya was on the floor.

"Anko," I said hesitantly, "did you just punch the Sannin in the face?"

"No? What are you talking about, Kagura-kouhai?" Anko replied, feigning innocence with ease, "I was merely stretching my arm and he got in my way." Then bending over Jiraiya, she asked, "Jiraiya-sama? Are you alright?"

A single punch from Anko had once landed me unconscious in training. But Jiraiya was immediately on his feet, not a mark on his face. "Don't 'Jiraiya-sama' me!" he comically yelled, "you clocked me!"

"Well you were leering at me, you disgusting pervert!" Anko yelled back. "I didn't believe Sensei when he said you were the trashiest amongst the three Sannin, but I guess he was right!"

"Pfft," the trashiest Sannin snorted and turned his head to the side, "with a temper like that, you'd be better off under Tsunade." Then he realized he was looking directly at me. "Oh, you're the other one, right? The Kiri one."

I nodded. The Kiri one. I hadn't been called that for a while, but I supposed it was a connotation I would never actually be able to get rid of.

"You look a bit too young," he walked up to me, rubbing his chin. Anko was glaring at him, but she stopped when she realized that the Sannin was actually becoming slightly serious. "What are you, seven?"

"Six," I corrected, though I would be seven in a few months.

Jiraiya looked surprised. "I never thought he'd pick a brat so young," he said.

"The Sandaime forced him," I shrugged, "he did not have much of a choice."

"Hmmmm... You're Kagura, right?"

I nodded.

"I never would have pegged you for the type to like flowers."

I froze. How did he know? The petal was hidden perfectly out of view, between his neck and his ponytail, and I had moved it there the first opportunity I got. It never paid to be careful, and the Petal Star Jutsu was nothing more than a contingency in case something did go wrong.

Except, I never expected him to discover it. The Sannin name really wasn't just for show. Reluctantly, I stopped the spinning of the chakra, and willed the petal to fold unto itself and return into my sleeve, making sure that it was out of Anko's sight the whole time. It would not do for her to discover the Jutsu so soon. I could do it seal-lessly, but controlling one was still my limit.

"You guys have spunk," Jiraiya nodded approvingly. "So I'm willing to go out on a limb here. Since Orochimaru's not going to be back for a while, if you kiddos need any help, you can come find me. I'll be here for a couple more weeks."

'Peh," Anko spat, "only an idiot would want the help of a pervert like you."

"Hey!" Jiraiya looked offended, "I trained the Yondaime! People would be queuing up for miles if they knew I was taking in students again!"

"Well, I'm going to be staying miles away from you!" she huffed, and stomped away.

I looked at Jiraiya. He sighed, "what about you, Kagura? You going to be a whiny brat, too?"

I shrugged. Who was I to turn down free help? And from a Sannin, no less.


"Kagura, do you want to have lunch together?"

I looked up from my book in surprise. I usually packed my own lunch and ate it in the classroom. I hadn't expected Itachi to ask me since she normally ate with the other Uchiha girl one year below us.

"What about Izumi?" I asked, remembering her name.

"She will not mind," her eyebrows scrunched up, "I think."

She did.

"Itachi-sama!" the Uchiha girl pointed at me angrily once we reached the school rooftop, "who's this?"

Itachi-sama? I looked at the Heiress of the Uchiha clan. She seemed indifferent to her title. Then again, in Anko's words, she was as close to royalty as one could get in Konoha.

"This is Kagura. A friend. He will be eating with us today."

I waved to her, "nice to meet you."

She stared at me long and hard. "How old are you?"

"Six."

"That's my age!" she gasped, "and Itachi-sama's age too!" Then she looked confused, "wait, what class are you from? I've never seen in you the second or first floor before..."

"He's in my class," Itachi answered for me casually, sitting down and opening her lunch box. Rice, grilled fish, cherry tomatoes. It was very modest and humble. Like Itachi herself, I supposed.

I sat down and opened my lunch box too. I didn't have the time nor the patience to learn how to cook, so it was nothing more than an ordinary sandwich. Then I noticed Izumi was blinking at a rate that was faster than the average human's.

"You're a Third Year?!" she exclaimed.

"Well actually I only entered the Academy last week," I said. "But they put me with the third years."

"I tried so hard and they only put me with the second years... and I'm already finding it difficult," she sighed discouragingly and collapsed to the floor. "Not fair! I'll never be as a good as you Itachi-sama."

"There there," Itachi said with practiced ease, "I'm sure if you try your best, things will be better."

"You always say that," she grumbled. "But now this random boy suddenly shows up and jumps two grades, too."

I stopped eating when I realized they were both looking at me.

"So?" Izumi asked, "what's your deal? How come they let you jump two grades so fast?"

"I'm good." I shrugged, "I'm stronger than most Genin. I think."

"Hn," she made a sound in her throat. "But you can't be stronger than Itachi-sama."

I wondered how good Itachi was. I'd never seen her fight for real, and in what Taijutsu practices we'd had so far, she demolished her opponents so fast I could never accurately judge her skill level.

Still... "You know," I waggled my eyebrows at her, "I know a Jutsu that Itachi doesn't. She asked me to teach her."

"Pfft, you're lying," she said haughtily. "There's nothing Itachi-sama doesn't know."

"It's true," Itachi said calmly, shocking Izumi. "He knows the Shunshin. I do not."

"The Shunshin?" Izumi asked, clearly not knowing what it was.

"The one that cousin Shisui always uses."

"That one? That's a Chunin-level technique!" she sputtered out, "and Kagura-san knows it?"

Itachi and I both nodded. Izumi let out a defeated sigh. "I can't even do the Fireball Jutsu yet. I keep coughing up smoke instead of fire."

"You need to work on your chakra transformation," guided Itachi. "Maybe you're having such a hard time because your affinity with fire is not very strong."

"Maybe I'm having such a hard time because I'm not a prodigy like you two," she said, mimicking Itachi's voice poorly.

There was nothing Itachi could say to that, and I didn't want to get involved in their conversation as well, so we ate in silence for a long time.

"Hey, Kagura, that sandwich of yours looks nice," Izumi said, glancing at my food. "Can I try some? I'll give you some of yakisoba!"

"No," I said immediately. Her chopsticks were already in the air, pointing towards my food. I smacked them away for good measure.

She blinked, clearly not expecting such a blatant rejection. "What's your problem?" she ask angrily, "don't you know friends are supposed to share their food?"

Friends? That was a rather large leap. Not that I minded, Anko said that the more friends I made, the better it would be for me in the future. Think of them as investments, she said. "Friends also do not kill each other," I explained calmly, "I poison my food."

Even Itachi looked shock. "Are you crazy?" Izumi gasped, "or is this something all geniuses do?" She looked to Itachi for confirmation. Itachi shook her head, her eyes looking at me expectantly for an explanation.

"I may encounter poisons in the future," I said, picking up a bread crumb and putting it on the ground. Sooner or later, one of the flies would come and investigate. "So my teacher believes it is good for me to build up immunity while I can."

"I don't believe you," Izumi crossed her arms. "No one's stupid enough to poison a kid's meal. Only like, ANBU do that, I think. You just don't want to share!"

"You can also think of it as, 'no one is smart enough to build up poison immunity from young'," I pointed out. Then I gestured towards the bread crumb. "We can always wait and see."

As if on cue, a fly landed on it. Within seconds, it began to experience spasms, its wings flapping erratically as it lost control of its limbs. It began roll around on the ground like it was dancing, and very soon it stopped moving completely and died.

"See?" I said. "Poisoned." Then I bit into my sandwich calmly as though nothing had happened.

Izumi's mouth was wide open, and her gaze alternated between the sandwich on my mouth and the dead fly. "Wha..."

Even Itachi shifted a few inches away from me.

"Izumi, do you know what's the difference between a crazy person and a genius?" I asked when it seemed like they would never get over their shock.

"No," she said, waking up from her stupor. "What?"

"The genius succeeds."


"Yo, Minato!"

Namikaze Minato looked up from his stack of paperwork, wondering how he could have missed the sound of someone opening the door.

He blinked when he realized that there was nobody there.

It must be all these forms, he reasoned to himself, all wanting my attention and my autograph so much that they've grown sentient.

The Sandaime had told him the paperwork would drive him crazy, but this really wasn't how he had pictured it.

"Oi, Minato!" He looked up again. Still, the door was closed. This time they even had the audacity to impersonate Jiraiya-sensei's voice. He was going to-

"I'm at the window, you idiot!"

He turned, and saw Jiraiya-sensei standing outside the windowsill, waving to him.

"Why don't you use the door like normal people?" he asked as he slid the glass pane open for the man to enter.

"It's faster this way," the man said, before sinking his body into a sofa. "I visited Anko and Kagura today," he recounted, "I wanted to see for myself that Orochimaru really took two brats under his wing."

"Oh?" Minato raised an eyebrow, eager to hear what was next. "What do you think of them?"

"Anko's got too much Tsunade in her," Jiraiya sighed, rubbing one of his cheeks. "She punched me in the face just because I teased her a little bit."

"I'm certain it's because you took your jokes too far again, Sensei," Minato said.

"Peh," Jiraiya scoffed. "It's because they're Orochimaru's kids. No sense of humor whatsoever. That man's not suited to raising children."

Minato was going to point out that a man who peeped on women as a past-time was hardly to be in a position to judge, but he'd been one of the children Jiraiya raised. Self-praise or not, Minato would like to think that he turned out okay.

"And Kagura?" he asked. Anko was Anko, she would probably be fine. But Kagura was always at the back of his mind, and the boy's very existence seemed to trouble him. It was the job of the Hokage to keep track of the village Jinchuuriki, but Minato found that he knew disturbingly little about the Kiri turncoat.

"Scary," Jiraiya admitted. "I could have gotten a nasty wound from his strange technique whenever he wanted."

"What technique?" Minato was slightly alarmed if Kagura could somehow already pose a threat to a man of Jiraiya's caliber.

"I dunno. I think it's an original technique. All I know was that he smelled strongly of flowers, and when I did a chakra scan, there was some of his pooled right behind by neck. I didn't even get to see it."

"Is it-" Minato had his suspicions, and they worried him greatly.

"No no," Jiraiya shook his head. "It's not the Sanbi. The Sanbi Jinchuuriki gets to use uh... rocks? No wait, that's not right. Maybe it's - Coral! Something to do with coral!"

Minato let out a breath of relief. There had been strict instructions for Kagura not to begin Jinchuuriki training until he was twelve. But frankly speaking, if the boy was capable of creating his own original techniques already, he was more than prepared to start right now. If that was the case, perhaps it was wiser to begin earlier-

No. He reminded himself. Kagura was not just a weapon to be used. He was human first, and Minato would not dump the burden of being a Jinchuuriki on him until the boy was ready or asked for it himself.

"You know, if you're so worried," Jiraiya ventured, seeing that Minato was still deep in thought, "I can keep an eye on him while Orochimaru is gone."

Minato looked up in surprise. "You can?"

"Yep," Jiraiya nodded. "I offered to help them out, you know, since Orochimaru's basically MIA. Anko flat out refused me, but Kagura seemed more receptive to the idea."

That... Minato realized, that would be perfect. Despite his many flaws, Jiraiya-sensei was still far more knowledgeable in human interaction and social norms than Orochimaru. There were things Jiraiya could teach Kagura that Orochimaru could not. And getting better progress reports than Orochimaru's generic 'He is doing well' was just a side-bonus.

"That would be good," Minato agreed. He would make sure Kagura would become part of the village. That he could one day proudly proclaim his past and his secrets, and the village would love him no less for it. If not for the boy's sake, then at the very least for Kushina's.


A/N: Doneee, Fav, follow review!

PS, Still looking for a Beta, PM me if you're interested.