Posted: 3/22/17 Edited: 3/23/17
Delusions of a Visionary
Chapter Ten: Promises Kept
Slowly, I fold my hands through a set of seals. Slowly, slowly. Not yet. Wait for it. Wait… now!
Folding my hands into the final seal, I finally allow my held back chakra to snap into action, settling over my target, Caxin Shiranui.
As I watch, Caxin stumbles, his depth perception now completely disoriented as my genjutsu takes hold. Not one to miss an opening, Minato rushes in, kunai ready to strike. The sight of Caxin trying to dodge while bringing his hand into the ram sign to focus his chakra and break the illusion is rather funny I have to admit. Caxin puts up a valiant attempt to both dodge Minato and break the genjutsu, but if there's one thing I've learned, it's that Eggs is fast.
Before Caxin can finish gathering his chakra, Minato twists, his natural ability for taijutsu showing through as he artfully dodges an off kilter swipe from Caxin and steps into his space in one fluid movement, kunai coming to rest at Caxin's throat.
"Dead," Minato says in an all too cheerful voice. I swear, for how nice the kid is, he sure can seem like a sadist at times; granted, so can Caxin. The two make quite the pair, and I have myself to blame for them getting introduced in the first place.
"I'm not teaching you unless you give me something of equal value in return."
"What do you want?"
It turns out, Caxin wants someone to spar with who can help him practice breaking out of genjutsu while fighting. I guess, ever since the ninja games, rumors have gone around that I'm the one who screwed with the battlefield (true), and that I'm a little genjutsu prodigy (not so true).
The first time I heard the second rumor, it was hard not to laugh, but if that's what people want to believe, I'll let them. Information is a ninja's best friend, and misinformation one of their best tools. No one needs to know I inherited a chakra anomaly from my mom's family, so they don't. Hence why Caxin thinks I'm a great person to practice breaking genjutsu against.
Unfortunately, while I am good with basic genjutsus, I'm not enough of a challenge in a one-on-one spar to distract Caxin for the genjutsu to take hold —we learned that the hard way.
I meet Caxin in the middle of the field, my hands coming together in a last-ditch effort to cast a genjutsu. As with all the other times, though, I am completely outclassed by my opponent. Before I can get more of the first seal formed, Caxin is right in front of me. I catch a glimpse of his gleaming brown eyes (so so determined) before I'm flat on my back, hardly able to breathe.
It hurts my pride a little, to be so easily defeated. I guess that, after the Ninja Games, I had expected to be able to at least put up a fight, but against Caxin I've had zero success.
So I recruited Eggs to help me out. Caxin gets what he wants, I get what I want from Caxin, and Eggs gets in some higher level sparing (he's apparently gone uncontested in his own grade all year —a fact that has driven that Uzumaki girl crazy, or so I'm told). All in all, everybody wins; a rare scenario to be sure.
I release the genjustu over Caxin, and the boys break apart.
"Ugh, that was a nasty one, Nakamura," Caxin groans, rubbing at his eyes a few times to make sure his vision really is correct again.
"Just a little depth perception trick," I smirk, flashing Minato a thumbs up. "Good job getting in there, Eggs. We make a pretty good team."
The boy's head dips a bit. Despite his insistence, I've refused to stop calling him by the ridiculous nickname. As odd as it sounds, I think it helps to ground me a bit, the silliness of it all. The first time Caxin heard it, he just laughed, having a very accurate guess as to where the name came from in the first place since he was also part of the third year tradition. I make it a mental note not to let the boy find out about my childhood nicknames, though. We don't need to make this a back-and-forth nickname thing.
I hop down from my perch on a nearby tree and meet the two boys on the field, "Again?" I ask, directing the question more toward Caxin than Minato. Eggs is bouncing up and down on his toes, a small grin on his lips —I don't need to ask him if he wants to spar again. Kid looks like he's having the time of his life.
Caxin turns toward me, his usual squinty-eyed look replaced with something probing and intense. He stares at me like this for a long moment, before sighing, his face relaxing back into his usual serenity.
"Yeah, alright," he says, "But I think we should gather up our kunai first."
Minato nods and immediately sets off, prying thrown kunai out of trees and dirt.
"Where'd you find this kid, Nakamura?" Caxin asks, an edge of humor in his tone.
I shrug, bending down to pick up a kunai. Holding it up into the sunlight, I look it over for nicks or anything else that would throw its balance off. I may not be fond of the objects, but Mom has drilled taking proper care of them into my head more times than I care to count.
"Minato's cool," I murmur, slightly distracted.
Caxin snorts, but nods, idly rubbing one hand over his neck where a faint red line can be seen, "He's a prodigy."
"Yeah. Just like you," I tell him dryly, shooting him an unimpressed look. Caxin had certainly proved that over the course of the last few days. The only reason he's been losing is because he struggles to throw off illusions (hence the sparring practice). Caxin smiles slightly at me, as if to say that he didn't know what I was talking about. I snort, turning away from the boy.
It… makes more sense now, why Caxin can get away with missing so much school. I mean, I take a week off after… after Dad, and I get a note demanding my reappearance at the Academy or else, but Caxin misses all the time and no one makes a big deal out of it. Watching him spar, though… There is no way that Caxin Shiranui has been idling his time away when not in school. No, his level of proficiency screams of extra training.
I just wish that we were good enough friends that I could ask about it, because being pulled out for extra training in our first year? That's unheard of.
"Hey, Miyo?" I turn, finding Minato jogging toward me, holding a bundle of kunai that he hands of to Caxin.
"What's up?" I ask.
"For this spar, do you think you could start putting me under genjutsus as well?" he asks, an earnest tone in his voice. I raise an eyebrow.
"Do you even know how to get out of illusions?" I ask. I don't mean to be condescending, it's just not something that's taught until second year. I really wouldn't be surprised if Minato hasn't already figured it out, though.
Minato nods, "Some of the older orphans showed me how to do it," he says, eyes serious and determined, "I promise you that I am capable of breaking an illusion."
I consider it, a silently appraising Caxin by my side. Illusions are… tricky. Not just to cast, but to get out of, as well. If a ninja doesn't properly break an illusion, they can face major mental problems later on in life, as the leftover chakra makes its way through the brain. That's part of the reason that genjutsu isn't covered until second year, so that students can get a proper grasp on chakra theory and control.
I sigh, slumping a bit, sharing a rueful glance with Caxin, "Alright, Eggs," I tell him, "Let me test you on something easy first, and we'll see how it goes from there." I figure that if he really can't break my illusion, I can just use the Kato family chakra anomaly and make him break it. That way no lasting harm will be done either way.
Minato nods, lips firming and eyes narrowing. In a few years, I imagine that this'll be quite the fierce look. For now, though, it's just kind of cute. Like a puppy pretending to be a guard dog.
I eye the boy before slowly bringing my hands together into the seals for the False Place technique, an illusion that changes the appearance of an object. Technically, in its perfected form, it's a C-rank illusion which I haven't quite mastered, but I'm proficient enough of at it that I should manage on okay illusion outside of a combat situation. More importantly, though, is that it should be pretty obvious to Minato what's happening.
Carefully, I focus on the kunai in Caxin's hands. I weave the illusion. A ghost image of senbon overlays the kunai, looking to my eye like a see-through image on top of the real thing. To Minato, though, it should look like an ordinary bundle of senbon instead of kunai.
Eggs, genius that he is, doesn't miss a beat and instantly notices the change, his eyes snapping to Caxin, before his hands clap together with a sharp "Release!"
I can feel my chakra snap, the illusion not just unraveling, but completely breaking apart. I blink a little at the recoil I feel, mentally unprepared for how forceful Eggs is.
Right. He definitely doesn't need my help.
"Okay, then," I say, hands on my hips, "Why do I doubt? Genjutsu for everyone!" I falsely cheer. Minato smirks, arms crossed over his chest while Caxin just nods.
"Let's begin," my classmate says, rubbing his hands together, a competitive edge slipping onto his normally composed face.
The two boys face each other, their shoulders proudly pulled back, their stances firm. Rolling my eyes, I leap back, once again perching on a nearby tree, irritably smacking a leaf out of my face as I concentrate on the two motionless boys. Tension is high between the two, a crackle of chakra rising between them as they stare each other down. I sigh, leaning back against the trunk of the tree. The male ego, I swear.
The stillness doesn't last long. Between one breath and the next, the boys are moving, rushing in toward each other in a great blur of movement.
I wrap my legs more securely around the branch I'm on and carefully watch the boys, trying to find just the right opening for an illusion. Right now they're both tense, half of their attention on each other, and the other half on me, just waiting for me to throw an illusion at them. I want them to relax a bit before I start anything —it's no fun if they expect it.
Caxin and Minato can't quite be described as great fighters, not yet, but the potential is there. They're both fast and very accurate for our age groups. I can only imagine that they'll both just get better from here. As of right now, Caxin has the longer reach, being taller and older, and his greater experience shows; but there's just something about Minato, even now in his first year at the academy, that echos of what he could be.
I let the fight go on for a while, leaping through the trees around the sparring grounds to keep both fighters in my line of sight. When the boys seem efficiently distracted, though, I decide that it's time to make things interesting.
So far, I've been sticking to genjutsu that affect the sense of sight since it is the most commonly relied upon of the five senses in battle. I've found though, that I can be rather vindictive, like right now. Hands flying through the seals, skipping the first two, I create the link between Caxin and I and let my chakra go.
As soon as I feel my chakra begin to settle, I'm already running through another set of seals, this time aimed at Minato. My fingers go through the few seals I need as I internally twist and build the chakra quickly —Caxin's genjustu has barely had time to take hold when I release the one for Minato.
I'm not done yet though. What can I say? I feel like knocking both of their egos down a peg or two, and I'm pretty sure I have just the tricks up my nonexistent sleeves to do it. Let's see just how short I can make this spar.
Both of the boys seem to realize something is wrong as they go in for another strike, kunai bouncing off each other. Twin signs of release are raised, and I narrow my eyes. I don't think so, boys. You're not getting off the hook so easy this time. Reaching out with my own chakra, I subtly throw off their disruptions.
I never thought I would say this, but thank you Mom for informing me about our chakra anomaly —it makes some aspects of trickery so much easier.
Going through a newer set of seals Hanami taught me, I let my newest genjustu settle simultaneously as the boys' attempt to release themselves from my chakra clutches.
Feeling it take a proper hold, I can't help but give a dangerous grin. Get out of that —if you can that is. I cackle out loud, thoroughly enjoying myself.
Typically, if you ask someone how many senses the body has, they'll answer with five: sight, taste, touch, sound, and smell. What they don't realize (or perhaps it just sticks out to me more because of my other memories) is that there is another sense: chakra.
Imagine reaching for your chakra only to realize you can't feel it; or that when you go to use it, it won't mold the way you need it to?
Ask just about anybody and they'll say that the sense most humans rely on most is sight, but I beg to differ. Any ninja worth their salt actually relies on their sense of chakra first and foremost —then followed closely by sight.
I watch with satisfaction as the boy's clash again, both of them frowning. They try a few more times, testing the waters I'm sure, to make sure there's not residual chakra from the first genjutsu (the one they're actually aware of) still affecting them (which they are, because I didn't let either of them actually release them in the first place).
Or, at least, I'm pretty sure that's what Caxin is doing. I'm not sure if the older orphans ever covered that with Minato. Oh well, he's the one who asked for it.
A dodge of a low sweeping kick and a thrown kunai later, Caxin raises his hands again to dispel what he probably thinks is the remaining chakra when he freezes, eyes snapping wide open.
"Nakamura!" Caxin's head whips towards my location.
Oh, he definitely feels it, or should I say, doesn't feel it.
Minato has stopped in his advance on Caxin, eying the other boy cautiously as he turns on him.
"Minato, do you still feel like you're under a genjutsu?" I stifle a chuckle. Unless Minato can read lips, talking to him right now is pointless. The younger boy makes this obvious as he points to his ears and shakes his head.
I think the growing smirk on my face is perfectly compensating for the growing scowl on Caxin's. Brown eyes round on me, the annoyance clear in them.
"Nakamura, get down here and undo this. I'm pretty sure whatever point you're trying to make has been made." I slowly get to my feet on the branch I'm standing on, taking my time to dust off and straighten every bit of my clothing and hair. I can feel the impatience burning from Caxin, and by the looks of it, Minato is figuring out my trick now too.
Eventually satisfied that my appearance is as perfect as it's going to get, I allow chakra to flow through my body, and I move, reappearing next to Minato. Placing a hand on his shoulder, I disrupt his chakra for him, dispelling both the genjutsu he's under.
Minato raises a hand to clear out his ear while I release the genjutsus on Caxin.
"Not being able to hear is really weird, but that other thing you did was even weirder, Miyo. How did you make my chakra disappear?"
"Like the kid said, Nakamura. What the hell was that?" Caxin may not seem amused, but I sure am. "I know I properly released the first genjutsu, but my feeling of touch was still wrong when I traded blows with Minato, and when I went to try releasing again just to be sure, I couldn't find my chakra."
I give a secretive smirk, wagging my finger at them. "Don't you know that girls don't kiss and tell? I'll give you a hint though; I never actually let you release the first genjutsu."
"Let us? You're lying." Caxin narrows his eyes. "While it's possible to let someone break your genjutsu, you can't just decide that you're not going to let them break it. Otherwise, no one would ever be able to break out of genjutsus until the caster allowed it." Caxin says in disbelief.
I give a small laugh. "It's only a lie if you can prove it," I taunt.
At the continuing stares, I relent a little with a sigh. "Alright, it was a low rank genjutsu Professor Hanami taught me that will mess with your ability to sense your own chakra. Against more experienced opponents, it's usually nothing more than a split second distraction." There. Let them think that I placed them under the chakra perception genjutsu first. What they won't know won't hurt them.
Caxin snorts, shaking his head and running his fingers through his hair, "Good to know," he mutters, more to himself than to me, "Alright, Nakamura, Namikaze," he says louder, addressing Minato and me, "I'm done for the day. See you tomorrow before class? Around sunrise?"
I nod, seeing Minato do the same out of the corner of my eye. Caxin gives us one last nod before eyeing the trees off to the side of the sparring ground, "It looks like you've got a visitor," he tells me dryly before he disappears with a poof of smoke.
"A visitor?" Minato questions, turning to look where Caxin had been staring.
I sigh, cocking a hip and crossing my arms over my chest, finally paying attention to the smouldering chakra signature that's been hanging around the grounds for the last ten minutes or so, "Prepare yourself," I grimace at Minato before I raise my voice, "Get out here, Fugaku," I call.
The Uchiha heir appears next to Minato in a blur of movement, his face clear of all emotion.
"Egss, this is the Uchiha Heir, Fugaku Uchiha," I introduce before my black haired classmate can say anything, "Fugaku, this is my little apprentice, Minato Namikaze. He's a first year student."
Fugaku nods a greeting (looking a little exasperated, the poor dear), which Minato returns before the blond turns to me, a nonplussed expression on his face, "Apprentice?" he asks dryly.
I nod, shooting him a grin, "I'm teaching you everything I know, so why not call you my apprentice?" I ask, voice filled with humor.
The boy sighs, "How about we just be friends?" he asks, rubbing the back of neck. I can see Fugaku's expression take on a slightly impatient mien out of the corner of my eye.
I can't help but laugh, just a little, "Friends," I nod in agreement.
Fugaku clears his throat, one eyebrow raised in consternation.
"Hmm? Oh, yes Fugaku?" I ask, turning slightly toward my classmate.
Fugaku gives me such a dry look, I fear that Konoha will enter a drought soon.
"We need to talk. Alone," he emphasizes, eying Minato. I spare a glance for the blond, noting that he seems a little unsure and a little protective. It's endearing really. I suppose Fugaku looks like the big bad wolf here, but I'll be fine, and I tell Minato as much.
"You sure?" Minato asks. I'm sure if I asked him to, he'd back me up in a second right now, but I can handle a temperamental Fugaku just fine by myself, thank you very much.
"Go on, Eggs." I roll my eyes. "He's not going to eat me. I'll see you later, okay?" With a last glance a Fugaku, Minato gives me a nod.
"Tomorrow then," he says, giving me a pointed look before taking off across the dirt field. I watch him go, not for the first time mentally thanking Hanami for teaching me the flash step technique. It makes exiting so much cooler (not to mention faster) —presentation counts, you know.
Turning back to Fugaku, I raise an eyebrow. "So, what can I do for the illustrious Uchiha heir?" I ask, taking in his crossed arms and stern features.
The glare Fugaku shoots me is pretty harsh. "Where has your head been the past couple of weeks?" he asks in that imperious tone of his, "Ever since you came back from being gone, you've been weird." Fugaku eyes me up and down, a frustrated sneer pulling on his lips, "Weirder than normal for even you," he adds on.
I bristle at the attack. My hand coming up to cup my bare arm, where not even a week ago sat a black mourning band.
"My dad died, Jerk!" I breathe, incensed and maybe a little defensive, "You think I'm just going to waltz back to class after that like nothing has changed?"
"That's who died?" Fugaku says, his defensive stance loosening and his eyes widening as he moves infinitesimally back from my personal space that he has so unkindly invaded. "Sage! Why didn't you say something, Miyo?"
The insulting tone is totally gone from his voice, and I wonder at the change. "I thought it was obvious," I tell him, voice patronizing, indicating to my bare bicep.
"I knew somebody close to you had died, Miyo. Not who. You've been avoiding talking to me or Nara ever since you came back." It doesn't escape my notice that the Hyuga twins go unmentioned. I guess the tentative bridge or friendship that was there is farther gone than I had originally thought (or maybe I overestimated its original existence).
"Or maybe you're just too busy with your new friends." Fugaku sneers a bit, his eyes dart towards where Minato ran off to.
I- is Fugaku feeling jealous?. "I'm not too busy as you like to put it," I say, eyeing the boy's guilty eyes and pinched mouth. "It's more a distraction than anything. I need something to do, something to keep my mind occupied. You're more than welcome to join us."
"And the ignoring part?" Fugaku pushes.
"Maybe I just didn't know what to say," I tell him, throwing my hands up, thoroughly fed up, "You do remember that the last time I really spoke with you guys it ended up with me practically attacking you guys? Plus, none of you like it when I talk about emotions! Why was I supposed to feel like I could talk to you about this?!"
I breathe deeply, running my hands through my hair and forcing down the stinging behind my eyes. Fugaku doesn't seem to have an answer. The boy breaks eyes contact with me, turning his head to the side as he scuffs the dirt a bit with the toe of his sandal.
"You-" I start, voice cracking, "You have no idea what my dad meant to me." Fugaku says nothing, his eyes studiously trained on anything but me. The silence is awkward, but I've endured worse. I stare down the Uchiha boy, counting my breaths as I calm down. One in, one out. Two in, two out. I only get to the count of five before Fugaku's patience breaks.
"What are you going to do now?" he grounds out, voice petulant and perhaps a little apologetic. You'd think I was asking him to pull teeth here.
I shrug, tucking my hands into my pockets, "I promised my dad that I would make a place for myself," I tell him, tilting my head back and watching the clouds.
"A place for yourself?" Fugaku questions.
I hum, eyes still on the sky, "If you haven't noticed," I say dryly, "I'm not going to make it as a combat ninja." I lower my head and meet Fugaku's gaze head on, trying not to think of that dummy lying in the grass, a pool of blood and vomit surrounding it, "I have to find something else."
Fugaku nods like he understands, his brows drawing down over his eyes in a thoughtful frown, "Graduation is in a couple months, Miyo," he unhelpfully points out, "What's your plan? How are you going to pull that off before we all get shoved into the Genin Corps?"
"I...I don't know," I admit, feeling all the more lost for it.
"Don't know, or don't care?" Fugaku asks, slowly unfolding his arms. "Before this, you were always pushing forward even if you didn't know what you were pushing towards. You just seemed to know that whatever it is that you were looking for is out there somewhere.
"Now though, it's like you don't even care. You seem out of it in class. I'd just about bet that you've barely noticed that one of your deskmates is missing." Fugaku pauses to take a breath, and he must see something in the blank look on my face since his sets in grim determination.
"That's what I thought. Reese was taken out of class the day before you returned. Rass says that he's back working at the candy shop his family owns learning how to make the Reese's Pieces that they're famous for. He never was very good at being a ninja, and he's not the only one. A few others have been dropped too.
"Everyone…" Fugaku hesitates. "Everyone thought you had been dropped from the academy too; until you showed back up with a mourning band on your arm, that is."
"By everyone," I say slowly, the words thick in my mouth.
"Nara and I were against the idea, mostly," he has the decency to look ashamed here, "the Aburame, too, but the Heir Hyuga made a comment that it was about time they dropped useless people who couldn't hope to be real ninja, and a lot of the class agreed with him." His voice is practically a snarl by the end, and while Hiashi's lack of belief in me hurts a bit (I'm already well aware of his feelings), it's nothing compared to the stark realization that most of the class thinks I should be dropped from the program.
Sure, I'm not fond of the idea of entering into a lifestyle of giving and receiving pain, but I've still got my pride as a ninja (even if I haven't graduated yet). I can feel my chakra roiling underneath my skin. Oh, I am so pissed off right now. What gives them the right to say I'm not useful, that I can't be a good ninja? Do they even know what it means to be a good ninja? If you discount the technicality, I was supposed to be runner up for the red ring at the Ninja Games. How is that being useless?
Apparently, I muttered some of that out loud, or it's just all over my face, because Fugaku gives me the answer.
"Most of the class thinks that you cheated at the Ninja Games. They think you hid and avoided the fighting until there were so few people left that you were basically guaranteed to get a good spot. Nobody missed how you substituted out at the end. Several kids in the class are calling you a coward, saying that even when you cheated and had a chance to win you still couldn't fight properly."
"They want to be ninja, and they're calling me a cheater?" I snarl. Fugaku raises his hands to keep some distance between us.
"If you'd been right in the head, you would have already noticed the rumors flying around. Like I said, you've been weirder than normal lately." Dropping his hands, Fugaku huffs. "It's annoying. You should prove to them that you're better than that."
If I wasn't feeling so angry right now, I might feel endeared that Fugaku seems to have so much faith in my abilities. It's only right that I repay his faith. I won't let him be ashamed of me as a friend, and I won't stay ashamed of myself. I made a promise to my dad, and it's high time that I get around to keeping it.
"Oh, I'll prove it alright," I say, cracking my knuckles, a plan rapidly forming in my head.
..-. .- -.. . / .. -. - - / -. .-. .- -.-
Using what Caxin has been teaching me, I try to still my chakra. Completely hiding your chakra is even harder than it sounds. Simply hiding your chakra away in your core doesn't work. Hiding your chakra is akin to smothering a flame —there may still be heat, but there's no more fire to work with.
True chakra concealment is much more difficult. Everyone's chakra gives out a unique feel or signature. Mine usually gives off a gentle crackle of electricity, like an unending static shock. Caxin's reminds me of a salty sea breeze, and Minato's feels like a finicky summer wind.
To conceal that while still maintaining use of my chakra, I have to remove the signature of my chakra, not the chakra itself. I've been practicing for a few weeks now, and I still can't get it very well at all. Caxin has apparently been working on it for years (it makes me wonder if he figured out how to do it himself, and if not, who exactly has been training him, and for what purpose?).
I take a deep breath in and hold it, mentally tracing my chakra pathway, trying to 'smooth it out' as Caxin puts it, "The real key to concealing your chakra is to blend it into your surroundings. People stand out because of our chakra affinities. Get rid of your affinity, and most sensors won't be able to tell you apart from a tree."
Personally, I don't know why people think that tree climbing is the hardest bit of chakra control a ninja will learn —concealing my chakra is the biggest test of control that I've been faced with yet.
Once I feel that I've 'smoothed' my chakra out as much as I possibly can right now, I layer a genjutsu over the top. At a cursory check, my chakra should feel firm and dry as an unmoving rock —just like Abe's. It will take a lot more practice before I can hold up against an in depth assault.
Looking at myself critically in the mirror, I see Professor Abe looking back. His purple hair had been the easiest to accomplish, what with mine only being a couple shades lighter and a little more into the blue spectrum than his. His face had been the hardest. Professor Abe, wicked ninja that he is, looks to be in his sixties and he has the skin that comes with it. Wrinkles are just a pain in the buttocks (and can be more readily achieved with a genjutsu placed over some light brown eyeshadow shaded over the face).
Critically, I pick at my clothes (some of dad's old stuff transformed to look like Abe's chunin uniform —I think Dad would be proud to see me using them like this), pulling at the cuffs of the shirt and smoothing the fabric over my stomach, trying to get the wrinkles to lie flat. It all has to look just right or I'll be found out faster than I can blink.
With one last look in the mirror, I turn and jump out my door, quickly taking to the rooftops so that no one will have time to question why Chunin Ryusei Abe, an Academy instructor, is hanging around one of his student's houses.
It only takes a minute to reach the academy. Sparing one last thought about if this is a good idea or not, I settle myself into the mindset of my teacher (gained from a year of closely observing the man, both during school hours and outside of them) —infiltration is only half about how you look, after all.
I push my shoulders back and widen my stance, gliding through the academy doors with a brisk stride (something that I've been practicing all year).
I'm at the academy exactly one hour before class starts, about twenty minutes before Abe usually shows up. It's the only big hole in my plan (what if someone realizes? What if I run out of time?) but I can't be in the building looking like this at the same time as the real Abe, and I can't be too early or people will get suspicious, so this will have to work.
Striding through the halls, I make sure to keep my chin up and lips tightened into something that looks like I'm constantly about to scow.
I am Ryusei Abe.
Swiftly I reach the teacher's lounge. I immediately bee line it for the coffee machine, working with sure hands to prepare a fresh pot. Professor Abe takes his coffee as black as he can get it, so that's how I take it, too. It's with a colossal amount of effort that I don't grimace over how bitter the drink is.
Keeping the drink in one hand, I make my way to the back of the room where the filing cabinets are placed.
"Ryusei?" A voice calls. A very, very familiar voice.
I slowly pull open the drawer labeled with Abe's name as I half turn toward the door, "Hanami," I say, dry and raspy as the desert. Learning how to manipulate my voice had been my biggest trial, but I had conquered shortening or lengthening the sound waves leaving my throat with chakra, so that I could easily lower and raise the pitch of my voice.
Hanami Tachibana, my kunoichi teacher. Of course she's here. If I can play this right, though…
Turning my back once more on Hanami (because Abe is a bit of a cold fish) I rifle through my class files. They aren't arranged alphabetically, in fact I can't make heads or tails of how they're ordered, so it takes a moment to find my name.
"Good morning. You're here early today, Ryusei," Hanami comments as she pours herself a cup of coffee, sounding a little bewildered. Abe doesn't answer anything less than a direct question, though, so I simply hum in acknowledgment.
Silence. Tense, painful silence. I find my folder and pull it out, pretending to flip through its contents, but too tense to actually take anything in.
"Well, good luck with your class today, then," Hanami offers, continuing her one-sided conversation, "Are you sending any more students home? I bet that that's why you're early."
Laying my folder flat over the drawer, I idly flip through its pages, "Hmm," I turn my head slightly toward Hinami, offering her a flat gaze, "Not that I can say." Something like which kid is getting kicked out of the academy is a confidential sort of thing, right? Plus, from what I've observed, Abe isn't the sort to give out information anyways.
Hanami chuckles, and I can see her shaking her head before I turn back to my folder. I'm so close.
"Alright, I get it. I'll find out later like everybody else." I can hear Hanami gulp down the last of her coffee before the sink turns on, "I'll see you around, Ryusei. I'm taking the first year girls to the greenhouse today —they should all be waiting for me outside, in fact."
I flick my hand up in farewell, listening intently as she steps out of the room and tracing her chakra as she leaves the building, and then finally the academy grounds. I spare a glance behind me with a sigh of relief, noting that the door has been closed completely. As I do, I spot the clock.
The clock, which can't be correct.
Immediately, despair rushes through me, shaking my limbs and upping my heart rate.
That can't be the time. It can't be. But it is. Making a pot of coffee and standing frozen like an idiot while Hanami drank hers and then tracking her as she left had eaten up more time that I had noticed. It's been seventeen minutes since I entered the Academy, and it is well past time for me to leave.
The real Abe will be here any minute, and I can't afford for anyone to see us both.
Snapping my file shut, I grab it up and tuck it under my arm. Turning on my heel, I forcibly manipulate my chakra, uncaring of the drain an almost full chakra transformation will place on my reserves, and picture Hanami Tachibana's face, her chunin uniform, the scent of her perfume, the long fall of her hair, the sparkle of her green eyes. I imagine the shading I have on my face shifting from wrinkles to a sharp contour. I rip my hair out of the strict bun it's in and let it hang free, changing the color from rich purple to dark brown. I reshape my chakra into something that feels like velvet. I shift my walking from 'glaringly proficient' to 'gracefully seductive.'
By the time I open the door, I am Hanami Tachibana.
Stepping outside of the room, I smile and greet the real Ryusei Abe with a cheery "Good morning. You're here right on time, as usual."
Abe hums and nods a greeting, but doesn't say anything. I force down a smile, stepping out of Abe's way so that he can enter the break room. The more I make this sound like the conversation that I just had with the real Hanami, the better things will be for me later: "Sending any students home today?" I ask, voice light.
Abe spares me a look, "I couldn't say," he rasps.
I nod, "Fair enough. I guess I'll just find out later, like everybody else. See you around, Ryusei. I've got to get to the greenhouses —I'm showing the first year girls around today." Abe offers me a nod in goodbye, shutting the door to the break room in my face. I chuckle, laying a hand on my heart in relief.
Right, it's definitely time to go. Before I run into anyone else.
As I turn, though, I feel someone step up next to me, an arm settling around my shoulder. Sharply, I turn and step back, putting distance between myself and the person who snuck up on me.
In front of me is a tall young man, with long white hair held in a low ponytail and amused black eyes. The… the chunin referee from the Ninja Games.
Before I can even open my mouth, the chunin dangles a forehead protector in front of my face, the stylized leaf symbol hovering right in front of my eyes.
"Congrats, kid," the teenager says, voice amused, "You just passed your graduation exam."
With a slightly trembling hand I reach forward and grasp the forehead protector. I sweep my thumb over the engraved leaf symbol in awe. "I've… graduated?" I ask, voice shaky. I drag my eyes away from the symbol of achievement in my hands and stare up at the chunin, "How? I don't understand. Who even are you?"
Fun fact for you all: young adult novels are, on average, between 55 and 90 thousand words (the first Harry Potter book was 76,944 words). With the posting of this chapter we've hit 69,729 words (without all of our author's notes included) and 135 pages on a google doc (which would be about a 232 page novel, if we say that there are 300 words per page). We've also taken Miyo completely through the academy, introduced most of the main characters, given you a basic idea of the world, and we've hinted at the bigger conflicts that will be taking place through out the rest of Miyo's story. You know what all of this sounds like to us? One whole, complete, finished book.
*crying* we're so proud of ourselves.
That all being said, we, of course, won't be posting the rest of a story separately, so we'll just call this the end of part one, instead.
We really, really hope that you've been enjoying yourselves. We've gotten some amazing reviews, and we appreciate all the follows and favorites. Plus, an extra shout out to you lurkers -we relate so much to you guys.
A big thank you to all of you!
The Splits