Me: I do not own Naruto!
Maika: What are you doing with Naruto?!
Me: Eek! Nothing, nothing!
Maika:...
Me: So... I'm on spring break! Break out the updates! And the reviews, please~
What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches. ~Karl Menninger
I.
"You called for me, Sandaime-sama?" Maika asked, perfectly polite and respectful.
The Third Hokage looked at the younger sister of his former successor and almost sighed. She stood practically the entire room away from him and her expression was nearly colder than winters in the Land of Snow. It was all too clear that she was, in no ways, ready to forgive him for all the grievances of her young life.
He couldn't blame her. Not truly. Hiruzen had his own guilt and his own regrets that had compiled over the years into a massive shadow that loomed over him at all times. One of the greatest was not stopping Minato from sacrificing himself. Keeping her last remaining family from Uzumaki Maika was not far down on the list.
"Yes." He took a puff of his pipe and sighed, the smoke curling visibly in the air. "I have something for you from Kushina's will, Maika-chan."
Maika stiffened, her eyes widening. But she said nothing, this child who bore burdens that most grown men would not have been able to stand. And perhaps that was his fault as well.
Hiruzen reached for a drawer in his desk and pulled it out. From there he retrieved a bright red scroll that he had guarded for a much shorter time than he had originally expected. Then again, he mused, as he placed the scroll on his desk, no one had ever imagined Uzumaki Maika would become a genin at age six.
It was a tremendous achievement, certainly. But, he worried over the lengths the child had gone to achieve it and the consequences of such a decision. For months before her graduation, Hiruzen had received reports from many of his ninja regarding little Maika. They said that she trained for hours, pushed herself to the ground.
He had been concerned, but after a discussion with Uchiha Mikoto, had consented to letting the matter rest. The Third Hokage had little doubt that the mother of Uchiha Itachi and relative of Uchiha Shisui understood Maika-chan much better than he ever would.
Now, that child approached his desk with cautious, near silent steps. He waited patiently; time had taught him that rushing with children brought bad results, even if 'child' was, at best, an ambiguous word to describe the Uzumaki he saw in front of him.
Standing in front of his desk at long last, Maika reached out a hand and slowly unfurled the bright red scroll on his desk. Her coral pink eyes quickly scanned the seal that was inscribed on the paper and she inhaled sharply. Glancing up at him, she asked, "Blood seal?"
'Yes,' Hiruzen thought to himself with a tinge of bittersweet pride. 'Maika-chan has come a long way for her to be able to identify such a complicated seal with such speed.'
He nodded to her and said softly, "Kushina wanted you to have it when you became a genin."
The little sister of the Red Hot Habanero flinched slightly at that name and lowered her eyes to the seal, gently tracing the lines with her fingers. After a moment, she stepped back and reached inside her weapon pouch. Bringing out a wicked sharp kunai, her face blank, Maika pricked her finger and let a drop of blood fall on the seal.
The ink flared a violent red and a poof of smoke appeared before the scroll. When it cleared, Maika gasped, open surprise and awe glowing in her eyes. Hiruzen smiled, pleased. In this, at least, he had succeeded.
An elegant katana half the length of its future wielder rested on top of the now blank scroll, intricate gold designs wrapping around the pommel and crisscrossing over the liquor black guard and handle. The sheath was a dark port red that was the exact same color of Maika's hair, contrasting beautifully with the black hanging cord, and so smoothly polished, it glimmered in the dim light.
"Kushina had this custom made by a swordsmith that used to cater to Uzushiogakure. She has left you all the scrolls to the old Uzumaki style of kenjutsu and this sword is now yours, Maika-chan." Hiruzen said quietly while Maika stared at her new sword in shocked admiration.
She shook her head after a second, dark red hair flying everywhere. Silent, she picked up the sword with all the care and consideration she had once given to her nephew. Backing away, sword conscientiously held against her, Maika bowed quickly to the Third Hokage and said, "Thank you, Sandaime-sama." It sounded sincere, too.
Maika was out the door the next instant and Hiruzen took a thoughtful puff of his pipe and smiled. This one act wasn't nearly enough to compensate for all the other wrongs he had done to that child, but it was a good start.
"Hokage-sama?" His assistant poked her head through the door. "You have more paperwork."
The Third Hokage, God of Shinobi, groaned and slammed his head against the desk. Why on Earth had he first accepted this God damned position?!
II.
Maika had meant what she had told Itachi and Shisui. She did not care whether or not their sensei displayed favoritism so long as she was with Itachi and Shisui. Her goal was not to impress her sensei; it was to keep her precious people safe.
But this was plainly outrageous.
For the past four days, Juro-sensei had assigned her to water-walking, never mind that she had mastered it months ago. And then, her ever so dedicated sensei had gone off to work with a fuming Shisui and an annoyed Itachi. Maika wasn't sure they wouldn't have mutinied if she hadn't gestured discreetly for them to go along with it.
Standing perfectly on the water's surface, Maika looked at the blue, blue sky and sighed. This was becoming boring, exasperating, and frustrating.
She hadn't worked so hard to be left behind by her boys, because of a prejudiced teacher!
Absently, she placed a hand on a pocket inside her black jacket where she felt a familiar scroll. Upon getting home and getting over her shock, she had immediately created a sealing scroll and sealed her sword inside of it. She was completely out of her league in kenjutsu and she knew better than to cut off an arm trying to wield a sword. She needed a sensei to instruct her.
Which was all the more reason Juro-sensei was being a jerk. Because, as of now, she didn't have a sensei to instruct her.
Pursing her lips, Maika was just about to go confront Juro-sensei when an aching familiar chakra signature beeped on her radar. Her sensing abilities remained largely untrained, but she had been practicing with Shisui and Itachi on sensing and tracking down specific people.
It was slow-going and she could only do it with people whose chakra signature she knew well, but it was the best she could do and she was sticking with it. Practice made perfect, after all.
Maika paused and spun around, staring towards the bath house. A second later, she smiled and raised her hands, forming her fingers into a familiar seal.
Moments later, she leapt away, leaving a shadow clone behind. Juro-sensei wouldn't exactly miss her.
III.
Jiraiya of the Sinning peered inside the women's bathhouses, giggling lecherously to himself as he continued his 'research'. Ah... Konoha really did have the best women! Beautiful, curvaceous, prone to spending large amounts of time in the baths...
For a moment, the famed shinobi felt a pang of pain at the remainder of why he hadn't returned to his home village in a year, but he brushed it off with the ease of long practice. Now really wasn't the time to think about that. He had beautiful ladies to be watching! And taking notes on, of course.
"Jiraiya-sensei..." A young, female voice sighed from behind.
Familiar. Painfully familiar.
He didn't startle, having sensed her chakra a few minutes back. Jiraiya would have recognized it anywhere and he supposed he should be glad that the little rosette didn't follow in her sister's footsteps and outright kick him into the midst of several kunoichi in retaliation.
The smile that his lips produced was strained and forced, but it was the best he could do. He had had time to compose himself but it was still a bit of a shock. It had been some time and he... he had eschewed his responsibilities a bit, he admitted to himself.
Despite all that, it took everything Jiraiya had to spin around with a wide grin and not wince at the sight that greeted him. If he hadn't known they were adopted sisters, he would have suspected a familial relationship at once. Anyone would have, really.
Maika had grown taller; her head came up to his waist now. Her hair was longer, rebellious dark red strands fluttering in the air. Her features had matured and he could start to see the faint traces of the stunning woman she would one day become. She wore a black jacket over a green shirt and navy blue pants, and, although he had known about it, the leaf forehead protector that served as her headband was still a shocker.
His little student had become a genin already.
It was her eyes that had changed the most though. While before they resembled that of a traumatized child, now those coral pink eyes were akin to that of a seasoned war chunin. Tired and weary and thoroughly jaded.
Heart clenching, Jiraiya quickly ran forward and engulfed Maika in a hug. "Maika-chan! How have you been?" He asked, making sure his voice was light and boisterous.
She hugged him back, smiling a bit. "Hello, sensei. I see you're up to your old tricks, as usual."
Frowning in disappointment, he pulled back. "Now, now, Maika-chan, we've talked about this! This is research, research!"
"Whatever you say, Jiraiya-sensei." Maika said indulgently. She flicked a glance down to the still blissfully naive woman bathing below. "Perhaps we should go somewhere else to talk." She suggested mildly.
The Sannin sighed mournfully, but agreed. He had never truly neglected his students and he didn't intend to start now... no matter how painful it might be.
IV.
"I want you to train me in fuinjutsu and kenjutsu." Maika said bluntly as soon as they situated themselves on an empty training ground.
To her relief, Jiraiya didn't look at that he surprised. In fact, it was almost as if he had been expecting it, if the sigh was any cue. "The old man told me about the sword... and I thought you might have hit a snag in your fuinjutsu." He said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "What about your jounin sensei, though?
She snorted. "Juro-sensei is an Uchiha and he pays me no attention." Maika replied candidly. It wasn't like she had a problem with it outside of not getting the instruction she needed. And she had Jiraiya now.
Jiraiya blinked and the corners of his mouth tilted down. "Favoritism? That's looked down in Konoha."
She shrugged indifferently. "I don't really care. He couldn't teach me anything more than the basics and maybe a jutsu or two. What I need to learn is the more complicated parts of fuinjutsu and the basics of kenjutsu."
He hesitated some more, but she gave him the puppy eyes. And like everyone else she ever happened to use it on, he folded, to her secret amusement. Itachi and Shisui were her two favorite victims.
And that was how Jiraiya ended up teaching her the higher tiers of sealing and the basics of the Uzumaki kenjutsu style, something he had managed to pick up from Kushina.
Maika was quite pleased with how things turned out.
V.
If Juro-sensei ever really noticed she was skipping her 'assignments', he never said anything.
'Probably happy he doesn't have to watch over me anymore,' Maika scoffed. Ah well, it worked out to her advantage so she guessed she shouldn't complain about it.
She told Itachi and Shisui about her training with Jiraiya a day after she snagged him as her teacher. The two were happy for her, and more than happy they no longer had to endure the awkwardness that was their sensei neglecting their precious teammate and not being able to do a thing about it.
They were sent on their first C-rank mission a mere month after they became genin.
It wasn't surprising to the team. They were one of the most efficient genin teams around, despite the problems between Maika and their sensei. It came with three 'geniuses' conspiring to be placed on a team together and succeeding.
Shisui was fast becoming an expert at the body flicker and he had almost mastered his triple-tomoe Sharingan. In other words, he was the heavy hitter. He came in hard and fast and, if some of his methods were a bit extreme... he got the job done. Notwithstanding the countless clearings he burned down.
Itachi's skill with genjutsu was increasing in leaps and bounds, his ability to cast them growing ever more subtle. Unsurprisingly, he was the immobilizer. It was rather hard to move and attack back when you couldn't move. Or see. Or do anything but hang limply from chains.
Maika's prowess with fuinjutsu had shot up with her training with Jiraiya and, along with her improving kenjutsu, she was the distraction. It helped that her red hair was fantastically attention-stealing and her bright clothes were even more so. The various flash bombs she threw around like they were going out of style helped, too.
It went well, most of the time. Maika would stall their opponent, Itachi would trap him in a genjutsu, and Shisui would finish him off.
They completed their first C-rank mission flawlessly. Their sensei was proud, begrudgingly of Maika, the Clan was proud, and Jiraiya was proud.
Itachi, Shisui, and Maika were happy.
They went on more C-rank missions. B-rank missions were next.
Konoha couldn't afford to waste talent.
Six; Maika knelt in front of the Memorial Stone and placed her daily bouquet on the cool surface. The wind blew her long red hair back and she breathed in the fresh morning air, tilting her head back.
Seven; Shisui laughed gleefully as his latest prank came to fruition, all but rolling on the ground. Sitting calmly next to him, Itachi's sigh was exasperated and Maika's laugh was fractured sunlight.
Eight; Team 13 gathered around a round table in a small restaurant on the outskirts of the Hidden Village of Sand, grinning and teasing good-naturedly. Their latest mission had gone well and even Juro-sensei hadn't protested.
And then things went wrong.
Next time:
'Itachi is going to die.'
Me: Yay! The reviews:
AnimePleasegood: Hmm... Maika's only real goal at this point is to be with Itachi and Shisui. She really doesn't care about her sensei... ^_^lll. Thanks for the review, hun!
Error 404: :o Thank you, thank you, thank you! That honestly made my day! I'm so happy you like my story! *dances around the room*
Caeleste: TT-TT Aren't we all? Itachi's story is just so sad! I'm gonna have to do some plot maneuvering...
Good Omens: Thank you, thank you! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Question: Who likes the new cover picture?
