Chapter 10:
I lost to Itachi two games out of three. The small, smug grin on her face made me regret accepting her offer to come to her home. But on the other hand, her mother made really good food.
"It's so nice to see you again, Kagura-kun," Mikoto smiled as she put more rice in my bowl.
I would have engaged in small talk, even if I didn't like doing it. But Itachi's father, Uchiha Fugaku, was staring at me. He had a pretty intimidating gaze, and the slight scowl he seemed to wear perpetually didn't help much.
Anko had brushed up on my social etiquette ever since she found out about the invitation. Step one: acknowledge the head of house.
"Thank you for letting me into your home, Fugaku-san."
He grunted. Then he crossed his arms. "You beat Itachi in a fight."
I blinked. Anko had never taught me how to respond to a comment like that.
The head of the Uchiha Clan couldn't possibly be that petty, could he? I knew that Itachi would tell him about it, but I didn't know how he would react. Did he want to take revenge? Send across a warning? Forbid me from ever interacting with her again?
"I cheated," I admitted. "It wasn't a fair win."
Fugaku snorted. "Fairness isn't a word in a Shinobi's dictionary. You either win or lose. It is your victory, especially since you didn't get caught."
"Oh," I said, not really knowing how to respond to that. Was he impressed? Or was he just bitter? I couldn't tell. It was probably an Uchiha thing, the way their faces seemed so stoic and unreadable when they wanted it to be.
"You won't be joining a Genin Team after the graduation, will you?" he asked.
I shook my head. Itachi's eyebrows rose slightly before dropping back down - the only indication of her surprise. It was decided a long time ago. I wouldn't become a Shinobi, at least on paper. Smuggling me into a Genin Team would be too risky. And besides, it wasn't like I wanted to join one anyway. All they did were glorified chores.
"A shame," Fugaku said. "I would have liked for the two of you to be teammates."
"That would be quite an unbalanced team," I remarked. "Our third teammate will probably feel left out or discouraged."
"Hn." Not my problem, his grunt seemed to say.
"What will you be doing after this?" Mikoto asked.
I shrugged. "Don't know. Whatever my mentor asks me to do, I suppose." I didn't know if Orochimaru would even be back after graduation. The chances were slim, but if the man died while outside, we'd probably never know either.
"Ah, that is true," Mikoto said. Her eyes darted towards Itachi, who didn't have the clearance to know just who my mentor was.
"You never told me who your sensei is," Itachi frowned, the first words she'd spoken since the dinner began.
"He's just some old ninja," I said, trying to act dismissive and casual. "Nothing really remarkable about him. Mainly just throws scrolls and kunai at me."
Mikoto's lips twitched in amusement when she saw Itachi's confused face, who was probably trying to picture what I just said.
"Itachi will become a great ninja." There was audible pride in Fugaku's words. "But greatness does not come from a path of solitude. I would like you to walk that path with her. If possible, please continue to train with her even after the Academy. It will benefit you both."
Itachi had stopped eating. Between Fugaku's firm tone and her expectant stare, I could only say one thing.
"Okay."
"Good morning, Sorata-san."
The boy lifted his head off the table.
"Oh, it's you." He yawned. "Is class over yet?"
"No. It's still lunch."
He looked miffed when I said that. "What do you want?"
"Someone told me Naras are the best at strategy. Teach me."
His eyes, bleary and half-opened, suddenly snapped into focus.
"Why?"
"I need to learn how to balance various perspectives."
"Why?"
"So I can improve."
"Why?"
I frowned. Was he being infuriating on purpose? "So I can become stronger. So will you help me?"
Nara Sorata seemed to consider it. There were many reasons for him to say no. For one, he would gain nothing from it. Sharing clan training techniques was also frowned upon. And lastly, it would be extra effort for a clan notorious for their laziness. Truth be told, I fully expected him to reject my request.
"I can't help you," he said. I nodded my head in acceptance, more than prepared for it. Now I just had to find another-
"-but I'll try to ask my father. He knows more about this. I've only just started learning."
I blinked. Was that a yes?
"Is that all?" he asked while yawning. "I'll let you know tomorrow. I'm going back to sleep."
"Wait," I said. "Why are you helping me?" He had no reason to do so, and there was definitely no need to drag his father into it.
He shrugged. "Why not? It's the Konoha way. We help one another."
"Thank you," I said, moving away so he could return to his nap.
"You lost to me, so now you're asking a Nara for help?" Itachi asked, almost playfully, when I returned to my seat.
"That's right," I grinned. "Don't expect to win the next time we play."
I thought she would get annoyed, or even a little bit upset at that comment. Instead she seemed content.
"Sure. Next time," she repeated happily.
The Nara clan compound was one of the largests, bigger than their clan population deserved. Once I walked in, I understood why.
More than half of their land consisted of forests and deer. A whole herd of them was grazing on the fields right next to me.
"We mainly deal with herbs and medicine," Sorata explained as we walked in. "Deer velvet has many uses. The forest also has many herbs and fungus beneficial to the body."
I looked around, trying to understand the nature of the Naras from their architecture. The Uchiha Clan compound was ancient. Old stone buildings built with authority and grandeur in mind. The Nara houses were much smaller. They weren't shoddy, but their construction seemed to focus on simplicity and functionality instead.
It was a weekend, so many of clan members were milling about. Some were tending to the deer. Others were just lounging on their porches, reading or napping.
Overall, the Nara compound seemed to give off a very laidback and easygoing atmosphere. Like the Naras themselves, I supposed.
"How come your hair isn't like your clan's?" I asked.
Most of the men had long hair which they kept in ponytails. Even most of the boys were following that style. But Sorata kept his short.
"Because long hair is troublesome," he shrugged. "Takes too long to wash and tie up. Might as well cut it."
Cutting it regularly was troublesome too, I wanted to point out. But Sorata climbed up the stairs of one of the houses before I could. "Dad, I'm home!" he yelled out as he took off his slippers.
"In the living room!" Came a gruff reply. "Your Uncle Shikaku is here, too!"
Sorata gestured for me to enter, so I followed his lead. We walked to a side entrance and slid open a door.
There were two men hunched over a shogi board. They looked nearly identical, with similar hairstyles and body-build. The most distinguishing difference was the scars on the slightly-older-looking man's face.
He was Inoichi's friend, I recognized. The one who sat with him at Kushina's wedding.
"Hello, flower boy," he grinned at me.
Sorata nudged me. "He's the new clan head. Nara Shikaku. The one across him is my father."
I hesitated. Anko's lessons hadn't trained me for a scenario like this. Who did I greet first? The head of house or the head of clan?
"You're Kagura right?" Sorata's father asked me. It seemed they weren't big on formalities, which was a relief. I nodded. "Sorata's told me a lot about you. And about Itachi as well. It's all he talks about sometimes. 'Kagura did this, or Itachi did that. How do I do it?'"
I turned to look at my Nara classmate - who'd I never seen remotely attentive or even awake in lessons - one eyebrow raised, silently demanding an explanation.
"What?" His face turned red, and then he mumbled out, "I do watch and listen sometimes."
I turned back to the adults. "I need help."
"Don't we all?" chuckled out Shikaku.
Sorata's father, whose name I still didn't know, nodded his head. "I heard from Sorata. We might be able to help, but we want to know why first."
I didn't mind showing the two adults, but I was slightly wary of Sorata. I didn't know who he would tell if he saw the Petal Star Jutsu.
"Can you keep a secret?" I asked him. The two older Naras looked amused, probably wondering what secret a six-year-old could possibly have. They both looked like Jounin. They should've been aware that I had many secrets. Some of which even they didn't know. Confused, Sorata slowly nodded.
I raised an arm. The sliding door was still open, and I pointed a finger at a tree outside. Immediately a chain of petals shot out of my sleeve, embedding themselves in its trunk. Moments later, they flew right back into the room, forming a halo above my head.
The adults blinked several times and looked at each other. Sora's lower jaw seemed to have dislocated.
"So that's how you cut Itachi!" Sorata exclaimed after he recovered from his shock, the loudest I'd heard him speak yet.
"That's not one of the Academy Three." Sorata's father arched an eyebrow. "And it's not a Jutsu I recognize either."
"That's because I invented it," I told them truthfully.
"Inoichi told me you liked flowers," Shikaku said wryly, "but I never imagined he meant this."
"I'm guessing you want help with maneuvering and controlling them to make coordinated attacks," Sorata's father said, crossing his arms as he looked at me with renewed curiosity.
Slightly surprised at his keenness, I nodded blankly.
"The more complicated the movements, the fewer petals I can control. For a simple, uni-directional attack, I can use nearly two hundred petals. But once I try a two-pronged maneuver, the number drops to about eighty. The other hundred-ish just go haywire or stop responding at all."
"I understand what you mean," Shikaku said. "We Naras use shadows to control the movement of others. But the more targets we have, the harder it is. Especially if we want their actions to be independent of one another."
"So how do you do it?" I asked, pleased that they seemed to empathize with my predicament.
"It's called mental partitioning. Segregating your mind to focus on different things concurrently. It's difficult, and often requires years of mental exercises." Sorata's father took a deep breath. "Many people can start practicing from young, but success is never guaranteed."
Shikaku had a doubtful look on his face. "Are you sure you're willing to put in the effort? We're helping you no strings attached, so we do expect maximum effort and commitment."
I nodded my head resolutely. "I would give nothing less."
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAGURA-CHAN!"
My tiny apartment was packed with people. People who didn't live here.
I needed to get better locks. Though I doubted there was anything I could get or do to stop these people from coming in.
They were all competent ninjas. Two of them were seal masters. One of whom was married to the Hokage who, with a few words, could gain entry into anywhere within the walls of Konoha.
Kushina was also holding cake, and that was always a good thing.
Kushina.
Jiraiya.
Anko.
Kakashi.
Only four guests and it already felt like my house was going to explode.
"You celebrate your date of birth?" I asked, finally accepting that they were here to stay. "Why?" It wasn't something we did in Kiri. Our dates of birth were nothing more than a series of numbers on our registration cards. Instead, we counted our age by every New Year.
"You're seven years old now!" Anko beamed. "And every extra year a Shinobi survives is an accomplishment!"
"I'm not technically a Shinobi," I pointed out with mirth. "Just a simple civilian trying to make the days go by."
Jiraiya snorted. "Sent on an infiltration mission at the age of five. Not a Shinobi, my ass. C'mon, loosen up! It's free cake!"
He had a point.
Cake was always good.
"I've been learning how to cook, so I baked it myself!" Kushina stated proudly. "Which means it's the best cake ever!"
"Didn't sensei get food poisoning last week?" Kakashi asked innocently.
"He didn't wash his hands," Kushina snapped, obviously eager to drop the topic, "it's his fault."
The cake was now on the table, so I sat down and was about to cut out a slice when Anko slapped my hand away.
"What?" I asked. "It's my birthday, so shouldn't I get to eat first?"
"No, you idiot!" Anko facepalmed. "We have to sing first!" I stared at her blankly. What kind of stupid ritual was that? "The birthday song! Haven't you ever heard of it?"
I shook my head. Kiri was a simple place; if there was cake, you ate it.
Kushina gave a hearty laugh. "It goes like this. One, two, three!"
They started to sing a chirpy and jaunty tune while clapping out the rhythm. It was short and repetitive, doing little more than congragulating me for surviving another year.
Considering what I'd gone through so far, I supposed my survival did warrant some celebration. Still, they hadn't done this for my sixth birthday. But I guess I was technically still considered a Prisoner-of-War then.
When they finished, they all looked at me expectantly.
"Um. Thanks?" I said.
Their faces dropped, so I started clapping instead.
"No, you silly!" Anko said exasperatedly. "Now you make a birthday wish and blow out the candles!"
She pointed to the cake, which was quietly sitting on the table with decidedly zero candles.
Anko blinked.
"Kushina-san?" Her voice went up all high and sweet-sounding. "Where are the candles?"
"I dunno. I said I'd settle the cake, yeah. Weren't you supposed to handle the candles?" Kushina frowned, shrugging off the blame back to Anko.
Sighing, Anko said, "no, I said I'd swipe his house keys and make a duplicate." So that's how they got in. I definitely needed new locks now.
Kushina turned to look at Kakashi, who immediately backtracked. "Don't look at me, you just dragged me here an hour ago without warning."
Naturally all eyes fell on Jiraiya, who seemed too engrossed in jotting things down in a notebook to participate in the conversation.
He looked up when he felt our gazes focusing on him. "Is it time to eat cake yet?"
"Where. Are. The. Candles?" Kushina all but ground out.
"Candles? What candles- oh." Jiraiya suddenly stopped mid-sentence. There was a flash of guilt in his eyes. Then he looked around, his face thoughtful and concerned. "Well you see, given the small size of Kagura's apartment and how cluttered it is, I have elected, in my infinite wisdom as a Sannin and Sage, that an open flame would pose too great a fire hazard. So in the interest of everyone's safety, I felt it best to-"
"If you forgot, just say you forgot, yeah!"
"I forgot."
Kushina let out an irritated growl. "I swear, I'm going to-"
"Kushina-neesan," I gave a light-hearted laugh, trying to calm her down. "It's fine. Things are alright just the way they are."
And things really were.
In Kiri, we gave each other presents over the New Year. In Konoha, they did the same for birthdays.
Except Jiraiya. Jiraiya copped out fast. "Psh. Why do I have to give you anything? I've been giving you free training for the past few weeks!" I supposed it was a fair point, and I probably wouldn't have been able to complete the Petal Star Jutsu without him as a result.
"Here."
Kakashi was the first. It was a piece of cloth, dark blue and long. "It's a mask," Kakashi said, pointing at his own. "I know you have a twin. And in case you don't want people mistaking you for him in the future, you can always wear that."
That... that was actually pretty far-sighted of him. Yagura was definitely going to be high-profile in the future, assuming he was still alive. And having the same face as someone in the Bingo Books wasn't exactly a good thing.
"Thanks, I'll definitely keep that in mind," I said, carefully rolling the mask up and stuffing it into my pocket.
"My turn!" Anko shoved Kakashi aside and thrust something into my hand. It was a metal rod shaped like a snake, a viper's mouth at the head before it tapered down into a sharp tail.
"It's a hair pin!" Anko declared happily. "And if you pull on the head, it's actually a hidden dagger!"
I did as she said, and when I tugged on the jewel-encrusted snake head, it came off, revealing a slender and sharp blade connected with it. I blinked. This was cool.
"I should grow my hair long and tie it into a bun," I joked. "So that I can actually use this."
"You'd better," Anko warned. "It was expensive. Besides, you have to keep your hair long. Orochimaru-sensei has long hair!"
"Yes," agreed Jiraiya with a laugh. "Combined with his slender build, it only ends up making him look like a woman from the back."
Anko sniggered. "Maybe. But Sensei could still kick your ass, you creep."
"Creep?" Jiraiya gawked. "I'll admit I'm a pervert, but out of the three of us, everyone always agrees that Orochimaru's the creepiest!"
"You guys just can't understand his genius," Anko huffed. "Sensei's great!"
Jiraiya rolled his eyes, muttering something about 'brainwashed' and 'lost cause'.
And finally, Kushina walked up to me. She had her hands behind her back, and I inferred that she was hiding her gift behind her.
"Close your eyes," she instructed.
I did.
I could feel her fingers sliding across my neck, and when she finally asked me to look, there was a weight on my neck that hadn't been there before.
A necklace. A thick leather cord was draped around my neck, and hanging above my chest was gemstone. It was nearly transparent, and pale blue in color. It reminded me of the sea.
"Aquamarine," Kushina informed me. "There used to be a mine of it in Uzu, so I have a whole bunch of them. I know your home is Konoha now, but that doesn't mean you should completely forget about Kiri. I never forgot about Uzu, even if I spent most of my life here, yeah."
"But aren't they our enemy?" I asked, slightly confused. Why would she want me to be reminded of my hometown? Was this some kind of test?
She placed her hand on my head. "Kagura. Just because someone was your enemy yesterday, it doesn't mean that they have to be your enemy tomorrow, you know? Minato's working really hard to make peace with the other villages. And one day, when peace with Kiri looks possible, we want you to be our ambassador."
I held the rock firmly with my hand. I didn't know how to feel about what she said. I didn't think of Kiri as my home anymore and if Konoha went to war with them again, I would side with the Leaf. But that didn't mean I hated them either. They were just... there.
But if the two villages could be allies... perhaps I wouldn't mind returning every now and then for a visit. I did miss their fresh seafood. And the constant sounds of the tide slapping against the shores. And the smell of salt in the air.
"That... that would be nice," I finally said.
Kushina smiled. "It would, wouldn't it?"
"Sorry we missed your birthday yesterday." It was lunch, and Itachi's sudden confession surprised me. Izumi looked slightly guilty next to her.
"Kushina-san invited us last week, but there was an important Uchiha ceremony we had to attend," explained Itachi.
"Very important," Izumi nodded her head eagerly next to her.
"It's fine," I said. "I don't think my apartment had enough space for two more people anyway."
"Still, we got you a present!" Izumi said excitedly.
They did? Why? Izumi's birthday was a month ago, but I hadn't gotten her anything. Not that I was invited, since it was an Uchiha-only ceremony.
"We're graduating next month," Itachi said. "I'll have my own Genin team and you'll be off doing... whatever it is you're going to do."
"And I'll be stuck here in the Academy," Izumi huffed dejectedly.
"So we decided to give you a present," Itachi continued.
"So you won't forget us!" Izumi chimed in.
"I won't forget you," I said. "I have a very good memory."
Izumi slapped her palm to her forehead. "That's... not really what I meant."
"Here."
Itachi raised a clenched fist and dropped something into my hand.
It was a metal chain painted red, with a single black tomoe hanging off it. "A bracelet?" I asked.
Itachi nodded and pointed to her own wrist, where she wore an identical one that certainly hadn't been there before.
"We've got a matching set!" Izumi raised her hand to show me her own. "So combined, there are three of them, and we can form a complete Sharingan!"
Izumi was grinning wildly. Itachi's lips were curled into the smallest of smiles. Slowly, I put on the bracelet. The metal was cold, yet its contact made my body feel warm all over.
"It's nice," I told them. "Thank you."
"Yeah!" Izumi celebrated by punching her fist into the air. "Team Sharingan!"
"You sure look happy." Shikaku's lazy drawl pulled Minato away from the letter in his hands.
Still, he couldn't stop smiling. "I can't help it," he laughed sheepishly. "It's from Rin. She's found Tsunade, and she's gotten Shizune's approval to tag along with them for now."
"That is good news. Have you told the Hatake kid? My ANBU friends tell me he's been working himself to the bone lately," the Nara said.
Minato's smile finally dropped. Such was the life of the Hokage. One worry vanished and another immediately took its place. "I will let him know soon. Maybe it's time for him to take a break from ANBU. Or at least slow down the pace."
"They want to make him captain."
Now, Minato was frowning. "He's too young."
"He's too good," was the Nara's response.
"I will talk to the ANBU Commander about this," he sighed. "But you're not here to talk about Kakashi, are you?"
"No," Shikaku said. "I'm here to talk about the other prodigy."
"Which one?" asked Minato. "In case you haven't noticed, we have quite a few."
"Kagura."
"Ah." Minato nodded. "That one." The most troublesome one. "What about him?"
"He's also too good."
"And is that a bad thing?"
"It might be," Shikaku said darkly. "Remember when you told all of us clan heads to treat him nicely and make him feel welcomed?"
Minato nodded. He had given strict instructions to treat Kagura as one of the village.
"He came to us for help. Wanted to learn about mental exercises to help him with his new technique."
And what a technique it was. Of course, Minato knew about this. "Yes, I am aware. Jiraiya-sensei told me about this. He's the one that recommended the Nara to him."
Shikaku looked surprise. "Jiraiya-sama? Kagura's got two Sannin helping him?"
"It's temporary. Until Jiraiya-sensei leaves, or Orochimaru returns. But I gave the green light for Kagura's training, so what seems to be the problem?"
Shikaku dragged a chair to sit in front of his table. Minato let out a mental sigh. So it was going to take a while.
"We're teaching him mental partitioning. It's an exercise where you divide up your mind so each part can focus on a specific task."
"You mean like multi-tasking?" Minato asked.
Shikaku's eyebrow twitched. "It's way more than just multi-tasking," the Nara snorted. "Here, you try." The Nara slid an empty sheet of paper and two pens across the table. "Write any word with your right hand and draw any shape with your left."
Minato did as he was told. The result was a pair of unrecognizable squiggles that was neither language nor art. He looked to Shikaku, who was doing the same, and was stunned to see neat rows of words and a decent sketch of a tree on Shikaku's paper.
"Not easy, right?" a smug Shikaku asked.
"I can definitely see why Kagura would want to learn this," Minato said. Then he paused. "Since you're teaching him, can you teach me too? Think about how fast I can clear through all this paperwork if I can read two documents at the same time!" The possibilities, he wondered in amazement.
"Hmph. You'll probably be retired by the time we get this done. It took me years to get to where I am now. You might be smart, but you're not Kagura-smart."
"Oh," Minato said rather disappointedly. "Wait, what did Kagura do?"
Shikaku pulled out several folded sheets of paper from his pocket. He unfolded one. "I gave him the same exercise. This is his first attempt." A triangle and Kagura's name was written on it. "Look how straight the lines are."
"So he's a natural," Minato shrugged. "What else did you think a prodigy would do? They're always full of surprises."
"I thought that too," grumbled Shikaku, "so I raised the difficulty level. I asked him to write two different sentences at the same time."
"He's ambidextrous?" Minato asked.
"He is now," Shikaku said wryly, placing another sheet of paper on the desk.
Two fully coherent sentences were written on it.
I am writing this because Nara Shikaku is the best ninja ever.
Konohagakure was founded by Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara.
Minato raised a questioning eyebrow at Shikaku. "I chose the sentences." He coughed. "At first, at least. By the end of a week, he was churning out essays with both hands simultaneously."
Minato frowned. "How long have you been teaching him?"
"A month. And I'm already running out of exercises to give him."
"What are you making him do now?"
"He's playing three concurrent games of Shogi verbally. And he's winning some of them."
Minato blinked in surprise. Kagura had only just turned seven, hadn't he? And Jiraiya said he'd learnt Shogi less than two months ago. And he was beating Naras already? Minato could count the number of times he'd beaten Shikaku in Shogi with one hand, which was already an achievement by itself.
"I asked him how he was doing it. He told me it was like creating Shadow Clones, only just in his mind and without a physical body."
"Well... isn't it?" Minato asked earnestly. That did seem to be a rather efficient way to categorize mental partitioning as a whole.
"It is," Shikaku said, rather put off, "but that's not the point. He's too good! Even for a prodigy! There's something wrong with his brain. Something about it that lets him fragment and weld his psyche at will."
"I know," Minato said. He'd always known. That was why he still kept tabs on Kagura, because the boy was a potential flight risk. But of course, he couldn't tell everybody about it.
"Then you should know the dangers! If he can partition his mind so cleanly, it also means that he can cleave it just as easily! Emotions, memories, loyalties! Minato, he's a-"
"Flight risk," Minato calmly completed Shikaku's sentence. He'd never seen the Nara so upset, except for that one time when Choza and Inoichi had nearly died. "I know. I've always known."
Shikaku was silent. He wanted an explanation, Minato knew. Shikaku was a smart man. He would've found out sooner or later.
"I've tried to hide it, but the risk is there. The Sandaime, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Kushina, and Inoichi all know about it. He's dangerous, but I'm not going to kill him for something he hasn't done yet."
"But why train him?" Shikaku demanded. "Why not force him into a civilian life? Or keep him as a potential hostage exchange? Why equip him with more skills and weapons to stab us in the back with in the future?"
"We don't have a choice," Minato said gravely. "He must be trained."
Shikaku's eyes narrowed. "Why? There's something else about him, isn't there?"
Minato refused to answer. This was a secret that had to be kept, even if Shikaku was his trusted friend.
"Wait." Shikaku lips pursed in concentration. "Why does Kushina know?"
Silence on his part again.
"Oh my god," Shikaku suddenly stood up. "He's like her, isn't he? A Jinchuu-"
"Enough, Shikaku." Minato's voice had gone soft and stern, but his authority as Hokage was more than enough weight to silence the Nara. "This doesn't leave this room, understand?"
Shikaku nodded, and Minato's posture relaxed a bit. He trusted Shikaku, but he still wanted as few people to know about the Sanbi as possible.
"Minato. I never knew you as a gambling man," Shikaku sat back down, shaking his head. "This is too risky."
"Maybe," Minato said, leaning back into his chair. "But I always play the long game."
His eyes flicked to the last folded sheet on the table Shikaku had brought. He picked it up and straightened it.
A study on the possible alliance of Konohagakure and Kirigakure including the benefits, risks, and possible terms of contract and implementation. By Karatachi Kagura.
He allowed himself to smile. Looks like I'm not the only one.
I stopped going to class the week the graduation exams were held.
The reason was simple, Orochimaru had returned.
"The Academy?" my mentor looked nearly repulsed. "I hope that waste of time didn't affect your training."
I shook my head. "I'm close to perfecting the Petal Star Jutsu," I told him.
He looked amused. "Really? I can't wait to see it then."
"Now?" I asked.
"No. Later. I have learnt and seen many things on my trip. I need to record and archive them."
I felt slightly happy at that. The more Jutsus and information Orochimaru picked up in his travels, the more I could learn.
"Sensei!" Anko's footsteps echoed down the staircase. "You're back!"
"Hello Anko. The snakes have informed me of your progress. I am quite pleased."
The snakes? I bit my lip. Anko was already learning the techniques of the Snakes. That could be quite difficult to deal with.
Anko blushed. Orochimaru was stingy with his praises. Case in point, he hadn't praised me yet.
"I assume you've both improved greatly?" Orochimaru asked.
We both nodded.
"Next week, the two of you will fight. A real fight, with the intention to kill. Though I will personally oversee it to make sure that doesn't happen."
"Understood, Sensei."
"Both of you take this." Minato handed us a slip of paper each. It was a Hiraishin marker. "Just in case. Wouldn't want you dying in a mock battle," he laughed weakly.
I slipped it into my pocket the same time as Anko. Her usual admiration for Minato was gone. She was taking the fight seriously, and her strict demeanor confirmed it.
He wasn't the only observer. Jiraiya was here, too. So was Kushina, who was holding up a banner that read 'Go Kagura-chan!'
"Why the audience?" I asked Orochimaru.
"They wanted to watch. And the Hokage would like to see your actual ability level, considering we can't use normal exams to judge you."
Anko was high-Chunin in terms of ability, wasn't she? This was going to be an uphill battle. Her learning curve might not have been as smooth as mine, but Anko was still very gifted compared to the average Shinobi.
We were in a secluded training field. It was outside of the village walls, away from prying eyes. Toad and snake summons were working in tandem to ensure nobody else was here.
The Hokage and his wife was here. Two of three Sannins. And all four of them were considered Sealing Masters. No expense spared for the village Jinchuuriki, it seemed.
"Are you both ready?" Orochimaru asked.
Anko nodded straight away.
I took a deep breath. Then I nodded as well.
"Go."
A flare of chakra followed by a faint burning sound.
Explosive tags.
My instincts screamed at me to move. It didn't matter where. Just anywhere but here.
A seal-less Shunshin later, the ground where I was standing on earlier was consumed by a giant fireball. I grimaced. Had Anko known in advance we would be using this training field?
I was still trying to recover from the sudden burst of speed when Anko's eyes locked on to me. A predatory grin spread across her lips. There was a ruslting sound behind me, and by the time I turned, twin white snakes emerged out of the bushes and were flying towards me.
I tilted my torso to avoid them, kunai already in my hands, before I swung my body to decapitate them. Her summons had been there the whole time. Of course. Anko had been Orochimaru's student far longer than I had. She would know where the Sannin liked to train.
My frown got deeper. I was going to have to assume Anko had made much more preparations than that.
"Hiding in the Mist Jutsu!" The handseals were completed under a second, and I sprayed a thick veil of mist out of my mouth that quickly filled the area. I put almost everything I had in the mist, leaving behind roughly only ten per cent of my chakra capacity.
Anko clicked her tongue. "If you stab yourself again, I'm going to make sure you actually die this time."
Anko knew I could do this. And she could smell me through the fog. She would definitely have counter-measures.
I had to move fast. I quickly made several water clones and instructed them to move randomly. Their only purpose was to throw off Anko so she couldn't find me immediately.
I leaped into the trees, hopping between them so Anko couldn't get a fix on my position and my scent.
And then I dispersed the mist.
Anko was standing exactly where I left her. Her hands were flashing through hand seals, but she stopped when she noticed the mist clearing.
It was probably a wind jutsu, one strong enough the clear the mist.
She stuck her tongue out, no doubt trying to find my scent. She frowned. Her hands became a blur, and a hailstorm of kunais flew out from where she stood. All of my clones disappeared immediately, and I had to hide behind the trunk of a tree to avoid being hit.
Finally, it was time for my counter-attack.
Swish.
Anko's head tilted at the very last moment, but a thin cut still appeared on her cheek. I could sense her confusion. She was looking down, where a single leaf jutted out from the dirt, its blade tinged red with her blood.
"What the-"
Her body twisted again as that same exact leaf launched out of the soil and threatened to cut her.
"Is that a fucking leaf?" shouted out Anko.
Her answer came when a whole tree's worth of leaves races towards her, leaving behind a wooden carcass.
Thirty thousand leaves.
One month of training and meditation had done wonders in improving my control over the Petal Star Jutsu. My mind was split into dozens of fragments, and every single one of them was currently dedicated to controlling the leaves.
The mist, and all the chakra stored in its water, hadn't just vanished into thin air. It had all gone into the forest. Just because its name was Petal Star Jutsu didn't mean the technique was limited to petals. Any thin-enough, chakra-conducting material would suffice.
Like leaves.
And Konohagakure was the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Several forests' worth of leaves was at my disposal, and every single tree caught within my mist had turned into a weapon. There were about ten of them. Enough to cut through any regular army like they were made of paper.
I could only control one tree at a time, but that was more than enough to completely obliterate a human being.
Anko's eyes grew wide at the impending storm. She leaped back, her fingers racing through seals mid-air. She slammed her palm into the ground as she landed, and a mud wall rose from the ground to shield her.
The stream of leaves collided into her earthen wall. The air was filled with the endless staccato of leaves stabbing into hardened mud.
Anko was still hiding behind the wall, seemingly trying to understand this new development from her relatively safe position.
Keyword being 'relatively'.
With a single command, the flow of leaves diverged, and they split to go around the wall.
"Oh shit!" Taken by surprise, Anko had only a moment to react.
A moment was too short, and a few leaves embedded themselves into her forearms as she raised them up protectively.
Her scream of pain pierced through the air.
I resisted the urge to grin. I couldn't get complacent now, not when victory was within my grasp.
Her face contorted into an expression of agony as she forced her wounded hands into a seal. Suddenly, the ground below gave way and she disappeared underground.
I frowned. An Earth Jutsu: Hiding Like a Mole Technique. I didn't know Anko had learnt Earth manipulation already. Then again, it was a relatively easy technique to learn. That made what, three elements that Anko could use? It seemed like I wasn't the only one who'd been learning new tricks.
I landed on a branch and waited. I still had countless leaves I could use around me. Anko couldn't stay underground forever. She would run out of air eventually.
As if on cue, there was a rustling sound near me. Immediately, I sent a barrage of leaves towards its source. There was no movement after that. Gingerly, I walked towards it.
A clearing littered with kunai stuck into the ground. That was what my leaves had hit. I didn't understand. Had Anko thrown these? Then I remembered. Anko had booby-trapped the area, and this was probably one of them. But why? Why waste a trap if she didn't even know where I was?
Realization hit me the same time the burning smell did.
A distraction.
I turned around. The forest was on fire. I clenched my fist. Anko caught on fast. I couldn't use the leaves if they were all burnt to a crisp. The fire continued to spread. It was getting too big, and I couldn't use a water Jutsu to extinguish it. I mustered as many leaves as I could, salvaging them for later use.
I was angry. So much of my chakra had been wasted for nothing.
I pulled Kakashi's birthday present out of my pocket and wrapped it around my face, moistening it with some chakra-turned-to-water in the process.
Dying of smoke inhalation at this point would just be embarrassing.
Tree hopping was too dangerous. There was a raging inferno around me. I dropped back to the ground. The fire was chaotic, all over the place - Anko had probably spat a few fireballs in random directions. The moment I landed, a pair of snakes burst from the ground and wrapped around my legs.
In an instant my leaves swooped down, shredding them, but it gave Anko the opportunity she needed. Most of my leaves were still clustered in the air, and she leaped off a tree, her fingers forming a ring in front of her mouth.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
And a crimson wave of sweltering heat engulfed my last stockpile of leaves.
I scowled. I only had about a few hundred leaves left. My chakra levels were low, too.
Across me, Anko glared at me. She had managed to bandage her forearms, but blood was still seeping through the fabric. She walked with a limp, and there were still leaves jutting out of random parts of her body.
"You've been keeping secrets, Kagura-kouhai," she snarled.
"It's not a secret anymore," I responded. Well, there still were other secrets, but those were state-decreed and I couldn't do anything about it.
Then she was suddenly in front of me, her fist outstretched and aiming straight for my face.
Taijutsu. How I hated Taijutsu.
I leaned to the right to avoid the blow, but a snake shot out of her sleeve and curled towards my face. I had to sacrifice two dozen or so leaves to cut it in half.
A wave of pain erupted from my gut as Anko kneed my stomach. She immediately leaped back, narrowly avoiding a waterfall of leaves that would have amputated it. More ammunition wasted.
I stumbled forward, trying to stop myself from heaving on the spot.
"Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique!"
I cursed. Great invisible blades of air flew towards me. I dropped to the ground, but many of my leaves couldn't avoid it in time. For a few seconds, it rained leaf fragments. I was down into the double digits.
The silver lining was that with so few of them left, I could actually use the more complicated maneuvers. I needed to act fast, befire Anko took control of the rhythm of the fight. I sent a leaf straight towards her face, before sending another dozen to intercept whatever dodging path she could take.
She cursed as one of them lodged into her shoulder. When I tried it again, she was prepared, using a kunai to cut them down. That was fine; it had merely been a ploy to buy time for my next attack. The leaves were in position. She was now surrounded. Over sixty of them floated threateningly in the air, aimed at every inch of her body. She wouldn't be able to sink back into the ground in time, nor was she fast enough to cut them all down. And unless she knew a Earth Dome Jutsu, she was going to get hit in multiple places. Hopefully, one of them would be a debilitating attack.
Anko immediately realized the danger she was in. She crouched low. I sent the command to attack. Her hands flashed through the seals. At the last moment, she wiped some blood off her shoulder and smeared it on the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!" Inky black marks spread out on the ground in a spiderweb-like manner from her palm.
A puff of smoke clouded my view, but I knew my leaves had hit something.
An angry hiss filled the air. A giant viper, as thick and long as a tree trunk, was wrapped around Anko. It was bleeding from multiple places. It hissed one more time, before disappearing with another puff of smoke, leaving behind Anko, who hadn't taken a single leaf in that attack.
My heart dropped. Now the only ammunition I had left were the dozen or so petals I always kept in my sleeve. Anko's grin turned maniacal.
She charged towards me. My fingers flipped through hand seals as I leaped backwards. I spat bullets made of water at her, but she expertly dodged them.
My chest was starting to hurt. Chakra exhaustion. I had invested nearly everything into the leaves, and it hadn't really paid off.
My hands gripped my kunai tightly when I realized that close quarters was my only option. And unlike last time, stabbing myself really wasn't an option here.
Her fist was suddenly right in front of my face. I swung one arm to deflect it, but a snake launched out of her sleeve, heading straight towards my neck. I was forced to use my other hand to stop it. The viper veered away at the last moment, changing it target from my jugular to my wrist. It's fangs clamped down hard, and I cried out in pain as it bit me. I tried yanking it free, but my hand was locked in place by the iron grip of Anko's summon.
Grinning, Anko used her free hand to punch me with so much force it could only be chakra-enhanced. I flew backwards and slammed into a tree.
That hurt.
A lot.
I stumbled forward, coughing out blood. I could tell my ribs had been fractured at the very least, and my spine was definitely not unscathed as well.
Anko stalked towards me.
I tried to move, but my body wouldn't listen. I still had the petals, but the pain was making it difficult to focus. They wouldn't be able to do anything but annoy her.
I needed more power. More strength. I needed more chakra. I could barely move, and casting any kind of Jutsu was simply out of question.
Chakra.
I needed it.
The world was starting to swirl before me as Anko's figure loomed closer.
She grabbed me by the shirt and lifted me up into the air.
"Yield?" she asked.
I glanced down and saw the kunai in her hand.
I needed more chakra.
I didn't care where it came from.
I needed more chakra.
Something in my belly tingled. Like a little tendril of energy was coming out of my belly button. I pulled on it.
I needed more chakra.
And I got it.
I didn't know where it came from but like a miracle, rough and primal chakra cascaded through my pathways. My mind felt clearer. My body felt lighter. Things suddenly didn't hurt so much.
Anko blinked. "What's wrong with your eyes?"
My response was a punch to her stomach.
It sent her skidding.
"Oh, you're going to get it now!"
She took one step forward and suddenly stopped. She looked down in bafflement, right where I punched.
I laughed. It was spreading across her body, immobilizing her. Something I hadn't seen since I was in Kiri. I didn't know what was happening either, but I knew it was helpful to me.
Coral.
Colorful and hardened pieces of coral was spreading across her limbs, locking her in place. Anko struggled against it, but to no avail. Soon, the only visible part of her was her face.
"Kagura! What the hell is this?"
It was the power of the sea. The trees of the ocean. Coral. Things were suddenly starting to turn red. The sky looked purple. It looked like it was autumn, with all the leaves having a crimson hue. It was quite pretty.
Orochimaru said that we were to fight with the intention to kill, didn't he? That he would intervene before things got to that point, right? Let's see just how fast he was.
I raised my hand up. A single petal shot out, aimed right between her eyes.
Anko's eyes widened in horror.
"I surrender!"
Foolish girl. There was no surrendering in a real fight.
And then there was a yellow flash, and everything went black.
A/N: Let me know your thoughts! Fav, follow and review! Still looking for my Beta, hint hint Oriks! :D