For the first time ever, her uncle Kagami was actively using chakra in front of her.
Well not yet exactly, but she knew that was going to follow. It had started with the inquiring and bright eyes that she flashed towards her uncle, that allowed him to see just how smart she was without hiding behind childish smiles. Why? Because she trusted him to keep her safe and this information to himself - not to mention the privacy seals Minato drew on the panels of their home prevented anyone from overhearing or overseeing anything private.
After a good show of her using her unfairly advanced cognitive abilities, her uncle had finally decided to give her an edge.
"I've noticed your sensitivity to the energy people hold inside of them," He told her with a speculative gleam in his dark eyes. "so this is the perfect way to prepare you for jutsu."
He started running through the hand signs, from ram to boar and she knew he expected her to memorize them. With sharp eyes that seem unnatural on her soft face, she watched him.
"You won't be able to do them just yet," He told her as he started the zodiac over again. "but you can know and understand how they work. We'll start playing the preparation games after you can fully identify the signs."
Senri nodded, his plan seemed sound.
So for hours each day they sat and she watched his dexterous fingers bend into formation as he explained the name and use until one day she noticed something different. Something that had been bugging her for a while now but she had yet to put her finger on it.
Underneath his skin, something seemed to move. It slinked into a shape and it held before repeating the position over and over again. Wrinkling her nose and attempting to squirm away from the familiar but really awkward way that something seemed to brush against her insides, she started in surprise.
An excited grin stole across her face as she resisted the urge to give a loud cackle.
Holy shit Kagami, that sly son of a gun!
"Chakra!" she shouted throwing her hands in the air and Kagami grinned, delighted by her answer.
"Wondered how long it would take you to notice. I've been doing this for about a month," He remarked raising a single brow. "attention deficit?"
Sniffing, she turned her face away.
Well, excuse her for not being a super genius capable of instantly recognizing a foreign energy source that she had lived all of her previous life without. And for his information she totally had noticed but didn't know what it was and yes, maybe she was ADD.
"Noticed," she muttered in her slurred tone. "not sure."
He flashed her an amused glance.
"Then I'm guessing you are familiar with the movements my hands and chakra makes in time with each other?"
Hesitantly Senri nodded, not wanting to disappoint him. "So so."
"Being 'so so' is perfectly fine Sen-chan, I expect only what you give," Kagami soothed seeing her uncomfortable expression and Senri gave him a grateful smile.
Feeling Kagami's energy flare up - it felt sorta of like Morse code, and that was probably how ninja communicated on the field - in a pattern she recognized, Senri narrowed her eyes. She saw this as the advantage it was given as, being able to perform jutsu without moving her hands was something she would like to have under her belt for the future.
"I want you to tell me what zodiac I'm making." He instructed settling his hands at his sides. "If you can't, we will start from the beginning using hands and no chakra until you get it right."
Wincing at the sudden steel in his voice - her uncle's pretty badass and no nonsense about training - she shuffled closer and leaned on his leg making herself strain to catch the sensations.
His internal chakra twisted into the same position after the same position, slowly mimicking jutsu without releasing it outward.
And after a thirty minute period - or maybe more she wasn't sure - she opened her eyes - when had they closed? - and grinned triumphantly.
"Rat!"
With a pat on her head, Kagami ruffled her gray hair into a bird's nest and broke out into laughter.
"Good try Sen-chan," He sighed after coming down from his chuckle high, "but it was the Rat about an hour ago. Then it was Horse, Rabbit, and finally Ram."
Wait, what?
Her confusion must have shown on her face because Kagami began to explain.
"You were out of it for a while," He explained with a smirk. "I never said I wouldn't throw in some variation."
Outraged Senri smacked her little hands on his thigh repeatedly. She would have aimed for his forehead but the man was a mountain.
"Cheater!" She shouted earning a cackle from her uncle. "Cheater! Changed it! Gami cheater!"
And to add insult to the injury he was holding off her assault with one hand on her head and Senri fumed, still trying to slap him to death.
At least she wasn't a Tobirama fanboy like somebody she could name!
Minato was a manipulative jerk and she didn't care if anyone disagreed. The manga made him out to be such a golden boy with a matching halo and a pair of wings but he was a devious trickster.
Imagine her, innocently sitting on the floor and then a blond jerk came walking in like the devil himself, pulled out a fancy scroll and began to write. But not just any writing, sealing scripts. But not just any sealing scripts, fuuinjutsu. But not just any fuuinjutsu, his specialized set.
Really, if he didn't want Senri all up in his paint brushing business he shouldn't have tempted her. And don't think she couldn't see the self-satisfied grin twitching onto his smug face as she curled up in his lap. She was a child, not blind, deaf, and dumb.
He started off with something simple, her name naturally and slowly wrote it down.
千里
"This is you Sen-chan," He smiled. "a very impressive set of characters if I say so myself."
Tracing the symbols, Minato hummed and turned her to face him.
Blue clashed with black.
"The ri in Senri is a traditional unit of measuring for distance, and one ri is about 2.44 miles. Senri means 1000 ri." He told her. "Names have meanings that are more than literal and I'm sure that you will go far in life Senri, farther than you or anyone else will ever know."
Looking at him in awe at his words, she pressed a kiss to his cheek.
"Thanks Mina!" She giggled and scrambled to turn around cackling at Minato's red cheeks. Really, that guy was too easily embarrassed.
Smiling in appreciation - because having a go getter like Namikaze freaking Minato tell her she'd be awesome was well, awesome - she clapped and picked up his discarded brush and wrote her name in horrible looking script. It couldn't even be called kanji, more like rhythmic scribbles.
Appearing rather put out, she glanced up at Minato who shrugged, looking unapologetic at her lack of coherent writing. Maybe even a little happy but hey, she could just be seeing things.
"It takes a teacher and practice." He explained and Senri nodded. She knew that, she was simply waiting for him to offer his services-
"And I'll gladly pass my knowledge onto you." He grinned. "None of my students seem to be very interested in my art, so I think it's fine to place my fuuinjutsu legacy on your chibi shoulders."
And right on cue, he gave her a proposition. She had no idea what he meant by 'place his legacy on her shoulders' - the training would probably be hell by the dark reminiscent look on his face - but she knew she had just scored a sealing teacher.
"First lesson: safety." He told her. "I'll teach you how not to blow off any appendages you might need to live and function in daily life."
Now she just had to survive his curriculum.
Senri knew Shisui was a genius and was in the academy but she never knew just how good he was at this age. Watching Shisui who was a few years older than her, shunshin erratically around their lawn, she felt a proud feeling well up in her chest at the sight of his gleeful expression.
He really was perfect for that technique - Shunshin no Shisui indeed.
Whether she liked it or not the older, more mature part of her soul beamed and whispered 'that's my boy' and Senri couldn't help but agree. Staggering to her feet, she raced toward Shisui screaming and cackling when he panicked at the high pitched noise and shunshin'd straight into a tree.
"Senri! Don't startle me like that!" He admonished, face red in shame at being frightened by a girl who could barely walk. "What if I had a kunai?!"
"Hurt yourself!" She smiled condescendingly and he sputtered. "Not me!"
"Well, are you just adorable?" He snorted, rolling his eyes at her comeback. "Rude, Senri, rude."
Cackling once more, Senri took off after him and was pleased when Shisui teasingly flashed around her attempts at grabbing her.
Or rather, she was pleased until in a dizzy spin while attempting to snatch her cousins pants, she ran head first into a tall body. Falling on her butt, Senri groaned at the combined feeling of the pain and sudden presence of - for the lack of a better term - oppressive intent that coated the air.
She didn't like how it felt.
Cracking open one eye, Senri followed the wooden cane up to the sturdy hand gripping it, up to the clothed arm before resting her gaze on a face she hoped she would never have to see.
Several rapid fire thoughts darted through her head at one time.
How much had he seen? What was he gonna to do with the information if he had caught her? And why was he here?
"And who might you be?" The man asked in his rumbling voice, eyes glittering with a dark curiosity and Senri wanted nothing more than to run away and hide from that probing gaze.
And why?
Because Shimura Danzo, orchestrator of ROOT, the shadow of the fire shadow, was peering down at her like she was his next target.
Edit: 2/12/17
