Sakura stared down at the boy in wonder. Although, calling him a boy was a bit out of place as he must have been her age, if not older. She turned her gaze towards the smith; if she had to guess, she'd say they were all of a similar age.
"My name is Tenten," said the smith, a smile on her lips as she raised a hand in greeting.
"And mine is Sakura. It's a pleasure." She looked around the forge. It was large and cluttered, but well used and well loved, clearly somewhere people cared for their work. Half-forged weapons and armour lay on every surface, but none looked abandoned, and of what Sakura could see of the work, it was masterfully done. It was no wonder that Tenten, and her master (for a smith no matter how talented could not own a forge so young) had a job at such a prestigious place. Creating the equipment for the gladiators of Rome, some of their most prolific fighters, would have quite a reputation. But, Tenten was the only smith in the building and that blade on the bench had the marks of one freshly tempered and the forge still hot. That spoke volumes.
"You do impressive work." Sakura looked back towards Tenten. "Where did you learn your skill?"
Tenten let a chuckle. "Well, it's a pleasant surprise for someone to think it's my work and not my father's, but I can't say I don't appreciate the compliment. Yes. some of these are mine and as my father is currently boozing it up in the country for the week, I hope you don't mind that yours will just have to be part of the collection." She turned and gestured for Sakura and Genma to follow her further inside. "I have to take your measurements and an idea of your combat style before I begin."
Sakura began to follow, but a glance at the strange man still passed out on the wall made her pause. "Should we not…"
"Ah, don't worry about Lee. He'll come 'round soon enough." Tenten cleared off a bench in the back of the room and whipped out a measuring tape. "Stand tall and spread your arms out."
Sakura stood as told while Genma headed over to recline on a chair. It was a wonder he was so relaxed all the time.
"Well, Sakura. About five and a half pes, you're surprisingly tall for a woman."
"Good thing," said Genma as he crunched into an apple that had miraculously appeared from nowhere. "I like my women tall."
"Don't we all Genma," muttered Tenten. "Don't we all."
Sakura, personally, was taking this conversation very... well... personally.
Tenten continued. "Wingspan is about the same. I've gotta say, nice proportions. And good measurements on the waist. You're fit, but not too fit." Tenten moved onto the smaller measurements. "I can't tell you how many men I have to measure armour for, and their body muscle is way out of line. Too much of it and it's gonna hinder more than help." She scribbled down the last of her notes on a piece of paper and rolled up the measuring tape. "I'm glad to see that you've got the brains to match your brawn."
"I could've have told you that," said Genma around a mouth full of apple. "You should have seen the way she wiped the floor with Hidan, and those Demon Brothers this morning certainly didn't hold a candle."
"Well nobody claimed those guys were too bright, not that I've seen many sparks in the gladiator school." Tenten moved over to a rack of weapons on the wall. "Any of these your preference in fighting?"
"A graecus, and an axe is a close second. If possible, I dual-wield them."
"Dual-wielding, and an axe for half of it? I have to say I didn't believe everything I'd heard from your fight, but the axe was certainly not the part I would have thought to be true." She searched through her collection before grabbing a variety of graecus and axes and loading them onto the table. "Any of those fit your style? I'm sorry to say but I don't think there's any chance of retrieving the ones you're familiar with, so it's either one of these or I forge a new one."
Sakura shifted through the pile, choosing and discarding. "No matter; they may have been familiar, well worn, comfortable, but they were nothing special and of low quality. It will be nice to have one that fits my grip and balance better."
Finally, only a few weapons lay remaining on the table, the rest back on the rack. Tenten perused them carefully. "I see for the sword you favour a thinner blade, with a more than average length for your height. Better for your reach but only when you're trained to accommodate it. It's a good way to even out the balance but it's still heavier than on average. As for the axe… you clearly prefer them double-bladed, but oddly enough, you like them shorter. I'm guessing to pair better with your sword in combat."
Sakura blinked in surprise. "I never thought about it that way, but I suppose you're right. I had often just used weapons that felt right but I had never considered why they did."
"So," Tenten said. "You like to use both sword and axe, but the reach has to even out more and the blades themselves thinner for manoeuvrability. Now, pick up those on the table and tell me which ones are most comfortable and balanced to you."
Sakura reached hesitantly for one of the graecus and settled into a stance. After a few forms she could tell that the balance was not far off, but the grip was all wrong. Her sword now discarded in Suna was no masterpiece but even its hilt was better than this. She placed it down and picked up another. A better grip but much too heavy. The next was too light. Sakura ran through all the swords and axes on the table, but the result was much the same. They had promise but none could make her feel comfortable without learning how to fight around their faults. She turned back to face Tenten and conveyed her findings as Genma, now finished with his apple, dug the seeds out of the core and threw them into a pot. He was studiously ignored by both women.
"Ah." Tenten did not look surprised. "I have to say, the chance of one of these suiting you was very low. They all have been forged for men, their hilts too large and the blades themselves too unwieldy and, even then, none for the same fighting style as you either. Where did you learn something for which the weapons were so specific?"
"It was just what came naturally. The sword was my first weapon, and the axe was one that I had to be comfortable with. When there's no swords around you have to make do."
"I can see that you're ambidextrous. Was that a habit of necessity too?"
Sakura looked at the sword and the axe currently in her grip and with a quick flick of her wrists swapped them over. She flexed her fingers. "I've always practiced with either hand. If I wasn't ambidextrous when I first started, then I certainly am now, but not of necessity, it was just what was done."
Genma whistled. "Anything else we should know about your skill set?"
"I am practiced enough in most other forms, but nowhere near as proficient. Make no mistake, I can use any of these swords and axes but if it's comfort that you are after, they don't suit me at all." Sakura lowered the weapons and placed them back on the table. "Was there anything else you wished to know, Tenten?"
"Just your armour." Tenten removed the weapons until the table was clear once more. "I assume you will need a cuirass as we have none for your… measurements, but if there are other parts that fit you well enough, I would recommend using them for now. The more we have to make, the longer it will take."
"I have no comparison for such knowledge, so I will have to take you for your word," said Sakura.
Genma stood up abruptly. "As nice as it was to see you again, Tenten, dear Sakura here has a couple of places she needs to be, and it seems like you have a fair few tasks on your hands."
"My pleasure," Tenten said dryly. "I'll have the items sent to you when completed. It should take about a week. And who knows, maybe if Sakura performs well in the colosseum, I'll see her again; most of the more famous gladiators get to look a little flashier when they perform."
Sakura inclined her head and followed Genma out of the forge, and as they turned the corner, they heard the unmistakable sound of what must have been Lee stirring from his position on the floor and lamenting to Tenten of "missing the beautiful blossom."
All Sakura could think was that Romans were strange. But then again, maybe Lee was an oddity.
Sakura was wrong. In front of her stood a man who resembled Lee in clothes, eyebrows, and haircut. And given the tears currently streaming down his face, their personalities were worryingly similar.
"Sakura, this is Might Gai, one of our doctores, trainers." Genma smiled. "You have already met his charge, Rock Lee."
Gai knelt in front of her, her hands clasped in front of him and sparkles shining from his eyes. "The power of youth is flowing from your eyes!"
Sakura erred on the side of caution. "It is… nice to make your acquaintance"
He gasped, the volume of glittering tears increased. "Such a soothing voice and such wonderful diction. To be in your presence is an honour."
"Hey, hey, Gai. You don't want to scare the girl." The man with a shock of silver hair yanked Gai up with the back of his shirt.
"Youthful rival! There is no need to worry! I was being nothing but a perfect gentleman!"
"Glad to see you're on time today, Kakashi. I wouldn't want to have to track you down."
"Sure, Genma. Lucky for you I didn't have anywhere else to be except to see the novelty." Kakashi turned his gaze to Sakura. "I take it this is our most recently enslaved gladiator."
His eyes were piercing. Suddenly, the past few hours of joviality washed away and memories of the last few weeks crashed down on her. Why she was here, the carnage in Suna, her kids. It was difficult to breathe. Kakashi's eyes creased and his mask curved into a smile. The feeling passed.
Shakely, Sakura composed herself and took a few calming breaths. This was serious, this was Rome.
"Yes," she said with gentle apathy. "It is my understanding that I am here for an evaluation."
Genma side-eyed her but didn't mention anything, while Kakashi simply let the smile drop.
"Yes," Genma said, the confusion apparent in his voice. "This is Kakashi Hatake, another of our doctores. We should be meeting the last one, Yamato, soon. They are some of the most senior of the doctores and will oversee your training."
Kakashi turned on his heel and walked into the yard. "Come on. We don't want to keep Yamato waiting now, do we?"
Gai hurried after him and Sakura followed. She could feel Genma's curious stare, but she kept her back straight and her stride controlled. These were Romans. They were not companions, or friends, or safe; for all she knew she had already told them too much of her past, things they could use against her. She was a slave and she needed to be much, much more careful.
Sakura joined the men in the middle of the small training yard, it was empty except for her guard and the three trainers. A private audience then.
Kakashi walked over to the rack of weapons on the wall, he took down a sword and a shield and tossed them to Sakura. Lucky for her she caught them without fumbling, this was no time to look the fool.
"Good reflexes," said the other man, Yamato she presumed. "But we don't generally try to injure our gladiators before they're trained."
"Hey, she caught them, didn't she?" Kakashi flapped his hand. "No harm, no foul."
Gai cut in with overwhelming enthusiasm. "But that is no way to treat a lady, especially one as beautiful as Sakura here! Where is your pride as a man?!"
Kakashi took down another sword and shield. "My pride is on hold. Right now I need to test our newest gladiator." He rushed towards her.
As Genma, Gai, and Yamato stepped to the sides, all Sakura could focus on was the speed at which Kakashi swung down his sword. She felt years of training kick in and threw her shield up to block the strike before rolling to the side to avoid his next attack. The shield itself was too large, too Roman, and at this point more hindrance than help. She threw it to the side.
Kakashi tutted. "Are you sure you wanted to do that? Throw away your only form of protection?"
"My sword is protection enough." Sakura crouched down and watched as Kakashi's eyes narrowed.
"Fine," he said. "But don't be offended if I keep mine."
He rushed her again and this time Sakura parried the blow and skittered backwards to create more space. This man trained gladiators and she had no knowledge of his skills while he had likely heard, maybe even seen her fights since she'd been here. For all she knew, he had given her the shield knowing she would throw it aside. This wasn't about proving herself by winning a fight, this was about playing it safe.
He came at her again and Sakura blocked. Again, and again Kakashi tried to land a blow and every time she studied his movements and either dodged or stopped the sword itself. But to her amazement, he did not tire nor become aggravated. This was certainly not another Hidan.
Suddenly, he stopped. Sakura watched him carefully.
"You have good technique," Kakashi said. "But you're too cautious and didn't take advantage of any of the opportunities I gave you. You fight too clean and that's not going to help you in the colosseum."
Quickly, he threw his shield at her and as she scrambled out the way, he was in her face, tossing dirt in her eyes and body checking her into the ground. As she blinked the grime out of her vision, Kakashi stood over her, sword at her throat.
"The people like excitement, and if you spend too long avoiding your opponent, you won't die by their hand, but the crowd might just get you killed."
Sakura stared at him and jolted into action. She used her sword to knock his aside, the blade just nicking her skin, and swept her legs under his. As Kakashi fell, Sakura rose and pinned his body against the ground, her sword now resting on his throat. He blinked, eyes wide.
"You wanted flare. For me to play dirty. Does this measure up?"
Behind her she could hear Gai waxing on about passion and youthfulness as beneath her, her blood dripped from her heaving throat onto Kakashi's face. To her surprise, he smiled.
"Yes," he said. "This is exactly what I want."
Kimimaro watched the morning's events with detached interest. The woman was certainly more trouble than she was worth but not an idiot. The fight was concise, well thought out and while the idiots around him cheered as blood splattered the floor, Kimimaro ran over what he knew of her. She had come in with the newest African slaves, a failed assimilation of a small town called Suna, no doubt due to the idiocy of those military dogs.
She had helped during an ambush and instead of killing her, the Emperor had found it fit to parade her in front of the masses. If he was of interest to him, she could be used; the question was how malleable she was. His meeting with the messenger would decide what should be done. Kimimaro looked to Sasori seated at the same table as the girl. She had no idea she was in the presence of another Suna gladiator yet clearly, based on the way he looked at her, he did. Perhaps something here could be exploited.
When the commotion calmed down and gladiators began to leave the hall, Kimimaro and his barracks went to their training ground. He sat in the shadows talking to a man before joining the rest in training. His master would give him orders, all he had to do now was wait.
As Sakura lay on that prickly straw mattress in that tiny cell, she couldn't stop the tears that rolled down her face. Her life was, effectively, no longer her own and the most she could do was hold back her sobs and sleep to fight another day.
Hey. So. The pes is a unit of measurement from Ancient Rome. It's similar to the Imperial measure of a foot, averaging at about 29.6cm per pes. Sakura is about 5.6 pes which is about 165cm, or 5'5". Now, the average height of woman around Roman times was about 155cm (they measured corpses for this) a good 4" shorter than Sakura. If you're curious, the average on men was 168cm so yeah, Sakura's fairly tall.
Other than that, saying her new weapons will take about a week is about right as the Roman Empire while growing needed a frequent intake of weapons and armour for the new soldiers they gained in conquered countries, especially for uniform requirements, not just general weaponry. A Roman blacksmith was capable of forging a few rough blades a day which would then be grinded and finished in the next few. Dress swords and fancy-pants armour would take a little longer for officers and other "important" officials. In other countries around the world, i.e. Japan, the swords would likely take a fair bit longer as they actually cared about the craftsmanship and quality rather than just churning them out.
The staff at a gladiator school included trainers. Usually when a new recruit, or novicius, was introduced they would be assessed by a doctor, called a medici, for health, and their fighting style and capability would be overseen by the trainers, called doctores. They were often former gladiators themselves and specialised in certain types of combat. Together these two groups were called a lanista. They would also accept the gladiator based on physical appeal as they only wanted attractive fighters. I've sort of smushed Tenten into the medici role as Sakura is a slave and therefore already required to fight and her injuries were already checked out by Moegi.
So that's about everything. See you in the next few months because I procrastinate even the things I enjoy!
