Chapter 2
It was now several months later on the first of December, and I was awake right on time, got dressed quickly, and stepped out into the kitchen to grab breakfast. Benjiro was there with his morning cup of coffee.
"Good morning, grandfather." I barely looked at the man as I retrieved some food from the fridge. It was a fairly plain meal, but I'd been careful about my dieting for my developing body.
"Good morning, grandson. It's good you awoke so early, punctuality is important for shinobi."
I merely nodded and quickly ate the meager meal. Then the weathered old man put down the coffee and leaned over on the table. I put down the food and looked at him, guessing at what was happening.
"Today, you truly begin your journey to becoming an adult. I feel you are more than ready, but do not dismiss what may seem obvious to you. Every lesson imparted in the academy has been learned through blood. You will have to compete with your fellow students, but they are still your comrades. Be diligent, and bring honor to our family's name."
Another reminder of the obvious, I thought. Still, I nodded my head and said "Yes, grandfather" all the same. He returned to his coffee and I took the cue to leave, dropping my dishes in the sink.
As soon as I stepped outside, I took a look around and made one shadow clone. It was a tiring move, but necessary. I sent them off to the training ground to meet with Fu for morning exercise. He would direct her workout and then focus on my medical training.
The academy was on the other side of town, which made it a good deal of running to get there, but I counted it as a benefit. If I had to skip my morning workout to make it to school, at least it would be a workout in itself. About half an hour later, I turned a corner and caught sight of the front doors. There were several kids being dropped off by their families, some tearful hugs and grand promises made. I quietly slipped by them and tried to navigate my way to the homeroom listed on my acceptance letter.
I found the classroom and poked my head inside. The teacher hadn't arrived and there were very few students there. I slipped away and found a bathroom to hide in for a few minutes. I didn't want to draw attention to myself by showing up so early to the class. So when I heard the sound of kids' voices come by, I joined the crowd and found a seat in the classroom.
Something I should point out about the classroom is that it wasn't particularly fresh or new. A lot of the desks were shabby and worn, but not broken or damaged. The paint on the walls flaked, the chalkboard was smudged from countless years of use, and the fans rocked slightly as they ran. The bathrooms, or at least the one I saw, were similarly worn down.
Takigakure has a military might nearly on par with the Big Five, but what people in the village often forget when bragging about it is that the main shinobi forces are not terribly impressive or even plentiful. We have less genin and chunin than on average for a village our size and strength, and they're not particularly strong. The main reason for that is our Jounin forces. Taki regularly produces very skilled jounin out of our meager village. They take a lot of solo jobs far out in the world and they promote the village while doing so. And when they need multiple jounin for a mission? Other villages tread carefully. Or at least, that's what we're told. But I can believe it. This means that while we may have a smaller shinobi population, our percentage of powerful and effective troops is higher, and we aren't shy about showing that off. Any decent shinobi knows the power disparity between jounin and everything else.
This dichotomy against my second-hand academy could seem unusual, but what you should understand is that Taki's not exactly a rich, prosperous, major, or even that important of a village and country. We're mostly fishers and simple laborers, some neat farming techniques and fondness for foraging. Our resources are carefully managed. We have to cut corners in places. So how do we get to be so powerful? The answer comes back to the jounin again. See, since our genin and chunin are both small and unimpressive in number and general strength, jounin have to take up the majority of missions. This means that more jounin are seen from our village for tasks of varying importance, lending the image that our village has so many good jounin we throw them at every problem. That's not exactly the case, like I mentioned.
From there, it's important to remember that not everybody is cut out for teaching. Being an educator is not an easy job; it takes a special kind of person to both want to impart their knowledge and be able to in an effective manner. Those are rare kinds of people. So between our jounin being out on missions all the time and finding these people, we have a limited supply of jounin available for jounin-sensei duty in taking genin under their wings to form a proper squad and become a team. These genin usually grow quickly in strength under careful tutelage of such a skilled ninja and often teams will promote up the ranks together, thus creating another batch of strong jounin for the village. But that also means that a lot of people graduating the academy won't be getting a jounin-sensei. Fresh genin will be assigned to part of a squad and then left to their own devices with occasional check-ins from some of the personnelists working in the administrative parts of the village. Some genin will come together and become effective teams, others split apart and take up jobs in the various sub-sectors of shinobi arts like T&I, medical, archiving, and so on.
So how do you land a jounin-sensei? Well, according to Benjiro, you have to excel. You have to impress. The academy is the crucible that weeds out the chaff and lets the ones with potential rise above. Clan kids and prodigies alike are the most common winners, but there are other times when jounin of more specialized arts take a shine to a random batch of potentials and scoop them up. When academy students pass the exams, there is usually some kind of meeting of the minds at the Tree of the best jounin. They'll take a look at the folders and records, scout a few of the genin over the week break, and then come back for final decisions. The important thing is that you have to stand out amongst your peers at the academy.
That's the opposite of what I was aiming for.
I fully intended to be middling in classes. I would carefully monitor my peers' progress and place myself on average skill with them. A little worse here, a little better there, but otherwise just another random genin that will wind up working in the archives. I'll blend in enough to become a forgettable ghost of a shinobi. Grandfather might not be pleased, but that's something to worry about much later.
The door of the classroom slammed shut as a man that appeared to be in his thirties stepped in and closed it behind him. He was wearing his headband on his neck and was bald, his chunin vest lay over a simple back shirt and brown trousers with sandals on his feet. He stood behind the desk at the front of the room, sweeping his eyes across the room at each of us. Then he turned and started writing on the chalkboard.
"Alright kids, sit down and listen up." He had a deep voice, stern but not uncaring. "Welcome to Takigakure Academy. My name is Hiroshi Tagawa, you will refer to me as Tagawa-sensei. I will be your history instructor for all your history subjects throughout your education. Each of your classes will be taught by the finest chunin in all the elemental nations, and we will prepare you for life as ninja, protecting your home and comrades. This," Tagawa started jotting down a bunch of classroom numbers with subjects next to them, "will be your schedule for your first year. Today will be a day of introductions, since you all will be staying together for the next four years."
He put down the chalk, turned to us, and gave a smile. "Like I said, my name is Hiroshi Tagawa. I'm thirty two years old, I have a wife and a daughter, and I enjoy history. I became a teacher at the academy because I believe that the past is very important, and that it should never be forgotten." He pulled out a notably mussed-up textbook that appeared to have several different page inserts at the end and set it down on the desk. "I make sure to keep our history lessons up to date." He pointed to the kid in the far back seat, who had been whispering to his neighbor. "You! Since you're so eager to talk, you can start."
The boy jumped in his seat and looked embarrassed, then led off with an unmemorable introduction that was followed by most of the students. A few of the kids from shinobi families made some grand statements about their dreams and becoming great shinobi like such-and-such, and a few shy kids could barely manage their names.
When it came round to my turn, I answered with my carefully prepared speech. "My name is Ito Ikimono. I live with my grandfather and like reading. My dream is to carry on my family's proud legacy and have kids one day."
An easy, believable story for a kid to have. Of course, proper shinobi could probably "read between the lines" enough to guess I was being leaned on by my grandfather and dealing with the pressure he put on me to make our family proud. This would serve as the "underneath" to my simple statement, and should serve as a perfectly adequate backstory for the curious.
After that, Tagawa gave us a tour of the building. Takigakure's shinobi academy was a fairly large rectangular building with a large chunk taken out of the center that makes up their courtyard and physical training ground. It had two floors and had a unique class arrangement. Younger academy students and the non-physical related ninja classes were taught in classrooms that faced the exterior of the building, whereas across the hall, the interior classes housed the upper years and more active shinobi arts. The purpose was that teachers could give lectures on combat and such while the class watched another class train in the courtyard to save time and maximize familiarity with fellow students. As well as the simple fact that if the younger students could look out the window and get distracted by the cool older kids training, they wouldn't be focusing on their lessons.
After history came math class. I wasn't keen on having to fake trouble with basic arithmetic, but I was glad it was here all the same. I knew far too many people in my old life who struggled with simple math. Next up was PT right before lunch. Our cafeteria was the cleanest part of the building. Seems we took the health and safety of the students very seriously. The "lunch ladies" were mostly genin d-rank gigs with a few civilians running the show. The meals were carefully constructed to maximize energy and nutrient value, meaning everyone ate pretty much the same thing until you got to your later years. After lunch came Japanese class, which again I had to "struggle" with like the rest of my peers, but decided that I would do better than average in this class to better fit with the fact I already said I liked reading. Finally was geography; a subject that would normally be very dry, but was actually fairly engaging. It's important to know what part of the world you're in, who owns it, if they're friend or foe, and what you're allowed to get away with while you're there.
Finally, the day ended at around three in the afternoon. I left in the crowd, making sure to gain some distance from the school before going running to my training ground. Waiting for me there was a familiar tanned girl. She must have heard me coming, because she was perked up and grinning by the time I spotted the area. Fu launched herself towards me and I caught her in a hug.
"Oh kami, you have to tell me all about school! Was it cool? What were the teachers like? How are the classes? Chomei wanted me to ask if the cafeteria has tasty food! Did you get to practice fighting?" The mint-haired girl continued in this vein for a little while before I told her to breathe. She gave a sheepish grin and calmed down enough for me to explain while I stretched after my run. I told her everything, which disappointed her somewhat. She really wanted to start sparring lessons, but those don't begin until second year. When I got to the part about the difficulty of the subjects, she laughed.
"Yeah, I bet they're no problem for someone as smart as you, Ito-sensei!"
I smirked. "They aren't but I'm not planning on acing any of the classes."
Fu tilted her head. "What does 'acing' mean?"
"Er, I mean I don't plan on being the top student in any of my classes, is what I mean."
She looked positively affronted. "What! Why? You're way smarter than other kids, Ito-sensei! Why don't you wanna be the best?"
I gestured for her to sit down, which she understood as an upcoming lesson. "Tell me Fu, what do you think the most important part of being a shinobi is?"
"Being really strong!" she answered without hesitation, which I chuckled at.
"Well, you're not wrong, but strength comes in a lot of forms. But what I meant to get at is that stealth is very important for ninjas," I made sure to enunciate as purposefully as I could. "A lot of people seem to forget that being a ninja means going unnoticed, being sneaky enough to go anywhere without people noticing and striking before they know you were there, then leaving before anyone finds you. That's the mark of a good ninja. I'm not that quiet or that stealthy to walk through a room, darting between shadows so I'm invisible, or hang on the ceiling while people walk under without noticing. But there's more than one way to hide."
Fu seemed on the edge of her seat, waiting for me to continue. I nodded approvingly at her focus. "Another way is to just blend in well enough that people don't care who you are even if they see you. I may not be able to dart between shadows, but if I am doing it right, I don't need to. I can just walk right through a room and people will barely acknowledge that I'm there. They could look right at me and not care, moving on to the next thing. The kind of forgettable that means you're basically invisible when standing in the sun. That's the kind of stealth I'm aiming for. Now, can you answer your question?"
The young kunoichi frowned for a moment, staring at the ground, then her eyes brightened and she looked back at me. "You don't want to stand out by showing how good you are?"
"Exactly," I praised with a bright smile, which she readily returned. "Besides, it's a good mark of a ninja that you don't know much about them, so why would I want to reveal all my skills and secrets?"
Fu suddenly looked conflicted. "So, should I do that when I go to school?" she asked.
I shook my head, which seemed to relieve her. "You wouldn't be able to. You're the Nanabi Jinchuriki, so people aren't going to forget you. If you tried to look weak or even average, people would either not believe it or try to assert themselves over you to make themselves look better." I pat her shoulder. "No, Fu, you go ahead and show off as much as you like. Don't hide yourself. The teachers will be able to better teach you if you're honest with them." Assuming they weren't biased bastards. If they were, then I may need to have a word with a certain village leader.
Fu grinned and jumped up. "Alright! So what are we working on today?"
I made the cross-fingered handsign, which she copied. I popped out two shadow clones, while Fu made well over a hundred. It left me rather drained. That was one hell of a chakra intensive jutsu, and it had taken several months of chakra-building exercises to make it to this point. But oh, so worth it. "So, group one is going to come this way and work on tree and water walking." A large number of Fu's split off with one of my clones. "Group two, you'll be working on those basic jutsu, kawarimi and henge." Another third went with my clone. "Finally, the rest of you can work on some of those wind jutsu I showed you the other week. Remember, think sharp thoughts." The last of the Fu's grinned and went off to the forest. I had managed to memorize a few wind jutsu from the library, but I wasn't very good at them. They worked just fine for Fu, though.
Speaking of Fu, the original was still standing in front of me. "Is something wrong? Do you have a question?"
She fidgeted and kicked a rock on the ground. "Um, well, you're going to work on your medical stuff some more, right?"
"Yes?" I replied. I always had at least one version of me working on medical jutsu as long as I had chakra. My clone's memories from this morning had hit me in the middle of language class, which was good since it allowed me to focus on assimilating that knowledge while pretending to work on the language.
"If it's, uh, okay with you, can I watch, sensei?"
I blinked. "I don't see why not. Keep in mind, you'll probably never have the level of control necessary for medical jutsu, but you could always learn a thing or two. Plus, it's good you know what I'm focused on." She did a happy little hop and nodded, following me over to another part of the training grounds.
"Nice, my clone managed to trap a rabbit over here for me to work on. I'm getting pretty good with the Mystical Palm technique, and so I'm stepping up to larger animals. I've had enough of fish," I joked, which made her giggle. It was a running gag between us how I would grumble about the number of icky fish I worked with when training. We found the rabbit under a wooden cage, happily munching on some grass. I hit it with a numbing jutsu, making it move sluggishly, then pulled it out of the cage. I took it and we moved to my shack.
I call it my shack, but was really more of a cave. With a lot of time and a little earth jutsu, I made a small room out of stone that dug into the cliff face and was concealed by foliage. It wouldn't hold up against any real scrutiny, but it would keep casual observers from seeing it if they passed by. Inside was a work table, a small bookshelf with notes, a few hanging medical tools I had acquired secondhand from various shops, and several hanging lanterns that I swiftly ignited.
The rabbit was placed on the table, secured with a few leather straps, and hit again with the numbing jutsu. I didn't need it squirming while I was working. I grabbed some safety goggles (hey, I didn't need "blinded by animal blood" on my medical history) and offered her a pair, which she donned.
"Okay, so today I'll be performing a few experiments. I'm going to first give it a few superficial wounds that I'll then heal, followed by deeper wounds, and finally stop its breathing long enough for it to die so I can resuscitate it."
To her credit, Fu didn't flinch when I mentioned the actions I'd be taking on the defenseless creature. She'd seen me around enough fish to be desensitized, for the most part. I moved in with the kunai.
"Sensei, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaase?" Fu begged cutely while I was healing the cut on a fox that was strapped to the table.
I sighed.
Fu had been asking me to start doing spars with her, again. She'd been asking for months since I joined the academy and told her that I wouldn't be taking that class until second year, which she deemed "way too far away, sensei!" and continued to ask that I train with her.
Over the sound of her continued cajoling, I considered the problem. In truth, I didn't see taking the sparring class making much of a difference in my fighting style. It would probably take a proper taijutsu lesson from a jounin to make a real difference. While unfamiliar with actual fighting, I knew enough to understand the basics of "hit the person and don't let them hit you" that we could muddle it out. And honestly, I remembered how much sheer experience one could gain from repetition, especially now that I was up to three shadow clones.
"Okay, Fu, we'll start on sparring."
"YES! This is going to be awesome!" she shouted.
"But," I cut in, "we should lay out the ground rules." She excitedly nodded. "First of all, no crippling or maiming blows, and definitely no killing strikes. I know it's obvious, but we're being thorough here. Second, we will not pause unless I specifically say 'Time out'. If we're pausing, then either one of us has gotten seriously hurt or someone is approaching and we need to be aware. Third, victory is determined by knockout, submission, or a 'fatal hit' by a simulated weapon or jutsu. The latter will be clarified by me. Do you understand, Fu-san?"
"Yes, Ito-sensei! I understand the rules." She turned and walked for the exit of my cave. "So, let's get-"
Fu was launched out of the mouth of my workshop by a chakra-powered kick I delivered to the small of her back. I wasn't great at kicks, but she had left me a very obvious opportunity that I exploited. She rolled and quickly scrambled off the ground with a shocked look on her face as I sauntered into the training ground after her. "Lesson number one, my young student; assume everybody wants to hit you, no matter where you are." I chucked a very blunted kunai in her direction that she caught, while I holstered a similar one on my thigh. She gave an angry pouty face and charged me.
I was put firmly on the defensive, but that was fine by me. She threw wildly flailing punches and kicks, all while I jumped and dodged and ran from her. I knew I couldn't outlast or outpace her, she was a jinchuriki after all. But I didn't need to. I intended on mastering my defense and speed, then striking when opportunities arose.
She would jump at me with a kick, and I'd duck and roll to avoid her follow-up punch. It was fast-paced (for us, at least) and we took more than a few spills; me from wild dodges, her from ridiculous moves. When she would punch me, I'd block or redirect with my hands, using chakra to soften the blow if it proved too strong, as well as my kicks to counter her own. It was hardly an impressive fight, but we were both under ten years old and had no combat experience prior to this. I supposed she was very right in wanting to get started on it, because this was pretty bad.
When she got frustrated and took a wild swing with her kunai, I neatly stepped into the blow and stuck the point of my own against her throat, making her cough from the sudden and painful intrusion. "Lesson number two; never let your emotions control you. I win," I told her. I wasn't exactly proud of the battle or the victory, but I was proud that we were starting on something important.
Fu pouted a little, but brightened when I pat her head. "That was a lot of fun, Fu. I know we'll get better together, we just need more practice."
"Does that mean we can go again, sensei?" she asked hopefully.
"Sure," I chuckled, whereupon she punched me in the chest, to which she gave me a smug look.
Or rather, she punched a log in the chest. I'd been expecting a retaliation like that and was prepared with a kawarimi. She dodged out of the way of my thrown kunai. "Very good, Fu! Lesson number three; know when to strike, know when to run, know when to surrender, and know when to walk away." I dropped out of the tree, retrieved my kunai, and gave her a beckoning motion. She grinned at me and leapt forward.
Fu was sitting on a rock and kicking her legs when I found her. It was the weekend, and we were maximizing our training when I didn't have school. Fu had been quite eager to meet up today, which is why she was earlier than I was to our training ground. She spotted me and jogged over, pack slung over one shoulder, grinning from ear to ear. She gave me a big hug when I got close, squeezing tightly.
I grunted a bit. That girl could hug like nobody's business, she could practically make a jutsu out of it. "Morning, Fu-san."
"Morning, sensei!" She beamed up at me. "You know what today is?"
"How could I forget?" I asked with a smile. "It's our one-year friend anniversary."
Fu squealed and hugged me even tighter. "I knew you would remember!" She let go of me and unslung her pack, then presented me a crudely wrapped gift. She wouldn't look me in the eye and looked quite bashful. "Here, I um, got you this. I hope you like it."
I smiled and pulled out a small package from my side pouch. "And I got you this. I hope you like it, too."
The tanned girl looked surprised, but very happy. "You open yours first!"
I chuckled, and wrestled the wrapping paper off the box. Inside was a small set of spices, probably imported. "You talked about how the fish and food always taste the same and it's boring, so I thought I could get you some stuff to add flavor," she explained hesitantly.
To think she would have paid attention to such an offhand comment like that. It's true, though. Most of our food was either fish, bland, way expensive, or just the same thing over and over. While I contemplated this, Fu grew a bit nervous at my continued silence. "Um, if you don't like it, I can-"
She was interrupted by a hug from me. "I love it, I was just surprised you even noticed I said that. Thank you, Fu-san." The tension drained from the amber-eyed girl's body, and she grinned at me. "Your turn, open it up."
Fu practically shredded the paper around the small box, and opened it. She gasped at the sight. "Oh my kami, it's beautiful!"
It was a very pretty and quality beetle-themed hairpin. A traveling jeweller merchant from Suna had passed through the village a couple months ago, and I knew that it would make the perfect gift as soon as I laid eyes on it. The gemstones were subtle, and most importantly didn't ping off the light and give away the wearer's position. Cost me a good amount of my savings, but I was generally thrifty and didn't have much use for ryo while I was this young.
My purpose was twofold. First, it was a nice gift for Fu. Second, it would be a way for her to subtly declare she wasn't ashamed of who she was. By wearing a beetle so openly, she was announcing that she wasn't going to hide her status, and was actually proud of it. An outsider might find it just pretty, but the people of Takigakure would know what it meant.
"Aren't you going to put it on?" I prompted.
Fu meeped, lost in staring at it, then sheepishly grinned and put the hairpin in near her forehead. I dug out a small mirror for her to see. She made a few fun faces at her reflection, which made me laugh. The girl gave me another hug. "I love it, thank you so much."
"You're quite welcome, Fu-san."
Fu was excited. I'd told her today's spar would be a little different, and she had been bugging me all day trying to figure out what it was. We stood across from each other, with her bouncing from foot to foot while I calmly watched her.
"Alright my student, here's the deal." I held up a hand, and it glowed blue with chakra. "If I hit you with my hand when it's glowing, then you can't use that limb anymore. If I hit your head or neck, it's my victory."
"Awwww, what?" she whined. "Why? That's so unfair!"
"Ninjas don't play fair," I reminded her. "But the reason is because of this." Blue blades extended from my flat hands, and I grinned. "These are called chakra scalpels. They let medic-nin cut people's bodies without cutting the skin, so it does internal damage. If I hit your arm with this, I could slice your muscles and leave your arms effectively crippled. Since I don't want to do that, we'll just pretend they're here." The blades retreated, and my hands were once again left with a harmless blue glow about them. I'd gotten the technique from my grandfather for this year's birthday gift, and had been working hard on getting them down.
I heard a twig snap behind me and immediately dove to the side, just under a swinging first coming from one of Fu's shadow clones. "Got it, sensei! Clones, pop if he hits you with glowing hands!"
"Yosh!" came a cry from a worrying number of voices from the surrounding are, and I turned to see a lot of Fu's clones perched in the trees, even some hanging upside down as she had mastered tree walking a while ago. I quickly turned and ran, a war cry of a small army at my back.
I lost that spar, as you could imagine. I was smarter, had more jutsu in my library, and could kill them with a touch, but there's a saying in the Imperial Guard; "Quantity has a quality all its own."
Afterwards, I told Fu to close her eyes and pulled out a small cake from a storage scroll. These were such an under-utilized tool in this world. Being able to fit damn near anything into something that fits in your pocket? Nations would have gone to war over technology this powerful back on Earth. In any case, I let Fu open her eyes as I lit the candles.
"Happy Birthday tooo yoooouuu. Happy Birthday toooo yoooouuu. Happy Birthday dear Fuuuuuu," I held that note out and winked at the birthday girl, who giggled. "Happy Birthday toooooo yoooooouuuu."
She continued giggling. "I never get to be treated like this," she complained.
"And don't get used to it. This is a special occasion, after all," I teased.
She pouted at me. "You know, we're the same age now. You can't boss me around!"
I raised an eyebrow at her. "One; I'm your sensei, so yes I can, and two; we're not the same age, I'm nine."
Fu seemed quite surprised. "What? I thought you said you were eight!"
"I was, last time you asked."
"When was your birthday?"
"On our friend anniversary day."
"We met on your birthday?! And you had your birthday two months ago?! And you never told me?!" she practically screamed.
"I… guess it never really came up?"
The now eight year old girl proceeded to pummel my chest and yell about not telling her stuff.
Today was the first day of my second school year. I'd finally be starting on physical training from the school. More importantly, however, it was Fu's first day of ninja school ever. She'd been bouncing off the walls of our training ground all through the fall break, which was somewhat tiresome, but at least I managed to channel some of that energy to vigorous training. Considering Fu was a jinchuriki and a kunoichi, even by those standards she was in great physical shape for an 8 year old.
I jogged and rounded a corner and caught a look at the front of the school, which included the usual gaggle of fretting families and such, but they were all sort of shifted to the one side. As I got closer, the reason became apparent. Fu was standing there, accompanied by our village leader Shibuki-sama.
Now Shibuki hadn't exactly left Fu out to dry this past year since I'd known Fu, but he was a busy man. He would talk to her and they would often grab lunch on our off days, but couldn't exactly go around telling everyone to stop being horrible people to a young girl. For one, he didn't have the disposition for such aggression and assertiveness with his citizens. But this was him very openly associating and being friendly with the demon of the village, smiling and laughing at Fu's excitement. The paradox of respected leader and town pariah as friends was more than their simple minds could take, so most people were trying to ignore the display so as not to upset their fragile world views.
I sighed. Was it really so hard to admit when one was at fault? Or to ask yourself if you were wrong? Or to stop and think for a moment? For most people; yes, it was.
Fu was facing my way, so she spotted me first. Her eyes gleamed and she ran over to hug me. A moment later, she'd grabbed my hand and dragged me over to a bemused Shibuki. "Shibuki-sama, this is Ito-san!"
I bowed to our village leader. "Greetings, Shibuki-sama, my name is Ito Ikimono. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
The teenager looked a bit surprised, but recovered. "Ah, it's n-nice to meet you too, Ikimono-san. Though I feel like I know you pretty well already. Fu-san has spoken of you often," he returned a slight bow of his own.
"Has she now?"
Fu blushed a bit, embarrassed at my raised eyebrow. She looked down and kicked a random rock, but with more force than she had intended. The rock skipped off a metal sheet on the ground and made a loud "CLANG" noise, and ricocheted back past us.
Shibuki yelped and ducked, covering his head with his hands. Fu meeped and blushed a little harder for accidentally scaring her friend. I tried not to roll my eyes and remind myself that while the young man wasn't exactly the intimidating image that you picture when you think "Leader of a Shinobi Village," he would grow as he got older and was a fierce combatant in his own right, and a very decent fellow overall.
"Ah, first classes will be starting in a bit Shibuki-sama, we'd best be pressing on. It was nice meeting you," I prompted.
"Oh, er, yes. You as well, Ikimono-san." He stood up and after looking around for more rogue rocks, smiled at Fu. "Enjoy your time at the Academy, Fu-san."
The tanned girl hugged the teenager, which had many people turning away. Ignorant twits. Anyways, we entered the school and split off to our respective classrooms, making a promise to meet up for lunch.
While Shibuki-sama didn't have the personality or pragmatism for the more underhanded methods of village endearment (indoctrination), the established school system held no such compunctions.
History, sparring lessons, geography, even some specifically worded math questions all had propandic leanings to paint Takigakure in a better light. While this flew over the heads of the young students, I was old enough to see the intentions. It made sense to me. Missing-nin were not exactly common in the elemental nations, but they were definitely a problem. Just taking a look at history, you can see a disturbing pattern of incredibly powerful shinobi defecting from their homelands and leaving trails of corpses in their wake. Between Madara Uchiha, Orochimaru, Zabuza, the entire Akatsuki and so on, I'd wager that a little more than half of S-rank Shinobi of the past century defected from their homelands. Each had their own reasons, but that doesn't change the fact that nobody liked people that dangerous running around without supervision.
Now I'm sure the big 5 have honed this to an art, but here in Taki it was almost aggressive in trying to breed camaraderie for the village. I put this factor down to three major elements. First off was one of the famous defectors himself; Kakuzu. The man who had stolen/destroyed the most powerful jutsu the village had before running off. Nobody wanted a repeat of him. He was an immortal reminder of the potential that the Jiongu technique could have been used for in the village. But he also served as minor positive propaganda that a minor village produced one of the scariest missing-nin in the world right now, so silver lining. Secondly came the fact that we were a minor village with a smaller shinobi force. We simply didn't have the manpower to spare in letting missing-nin become a problem, so we tried to prevent it happening in the first place, which typically involved painting the other villages (except somewhat for Konoha since we were allies) in a bad light. Lastly, there was our jounin population. Like I said, it was often the very powerful and dangerous shinobi that defected. With us having a large roster of veteran and skilled jounin, a few of them could be seen as bumping up against that invisible line of defection-worthy. At least, from our village's view. It may come off as a bit self-congratulatory to think "Oh my, we have so many amazing and powerful ninja that we need to make sure that they aren't thinking of running off on their own!"
It was something that the entire shinobi world faced; the accumulation of power and what to do when you reached the peak. No matter when or where humanity lives, power rules all. The first shinobi villages were founded by very powerful individuals who waded through an ocean of blood to lay down the new rules. Daimyo had enough charismatic and economic power to convince people to serve them, thus creating a barrier of military power that made them mighty as well. Shinobi village leaders, with the exception of some of the minor villages (including our own), were all very powerful individuals. People with that kind of potential were often groomed and directed to become leaders by their own kage to ensure the might of their village. But what happens to the people who don't want to be the leader? Or the people who do, but are denied for whatever reason? Or the ones who just don't give enough of a shit about their village to put up with their rules?
Well, there's some like Jiraiya. He stepped away from the village to avoid the pressure of becoming the next Hokage while still serving his country as a spymaster. Tsunade "defected" because she couldn't handle the deaths of her loved ones and didn't want the reminders of the village haunting her, despite her being one of the last surviving members of a founding clan of breeding age. That wouldn't have been allowed if she weren't so powerful. Darui was up there, but he was being groomed as the fifth Raikage I think. Then there was Pakura, Hero of Suna, she of the Scorch Release. A loyal S-ranked shinobi is something to be guarded like treasure, yet the paranoid and idiotic Rasa had her killed and blamed Iwa for it. The rest, well, they become the boogeymen of the elemental nations.
It's very simple when you think about it. Laws exist to protect the general public, who were generally weak. Power rises people above. It liberates them, reveals them, grants them freedom. Why bother worrying about laws when you could take on the police easily? Why cater to the needs of the fear-filled and idiotic masses? The cage of civilization grows too small, and you yearn to break free of its bars so you can stand tall and free. Ideas you've always had or believed but could never express for fear of society's retribution, now you can bandy them about without concern. Whether it was views on art, religion, or just how little a life meant versus your boredom.
Or maybe it's just Kishimoto's shit writing needing to contrive a super powerful force like these villains to put in Naruto's way. But I digress.
My point was that these propaganda techniques don't really work on me, and they didn't really work on Fu. The village had done its best to stamp out the girl's spirit, despite her trying to fit in and be accepted. I could see she wanted to, but when we talked about it, she seemed to be trying to convince herself. School was going to be tough on her.
Not to say that some kids weren't trying to make it tough on me, I mused as a spitball hit the back of my head again. The fact that I was friends with the demon girl had spread through the school at the speed of rumor, and ever since then I've had a target on my back. Spitballs and name-calling were the usual, though sometimes a few students got physical or pranked me in some way. I had to take care in how I reacted; I was building an average persona here, not weak nor strong, so I couldn't go around bursting into tears or hiding and paint myself as a victim, nor could I lay these kids out to remind them of their place in the world. Between a sparring partner who could be several hundred sparring partners, a few years training, and my own shadow clones, I was decent in a fight these days. So I blustered and got "angry" sometimes, was quiet and reserved others. I even got a detention once for a little scuffle, which was good since my record was a little too clean at the time.
When school ended, I left and headed towards our training ground. I took a sequitous route ever since Fu had started school, as did she. We did so to discourage any pursuers. This, for me, meant swinging by my house for about ten or so minutes before heading back out. I did some stretches after my run and waited for Fu to arrive. When I spotted her, her eyes were red and she was slumped and had her arms slightly defensively held in front of her. I pushed off from the rock and let her walk into my embrace, sniffling a bit.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked after a moment. She nodded, but didn't say anything.
It wasn't surprising, really. Kids were even more idiotic than their parents and often blindly followed their lead. They heard and saw their parents treat Fu like a leper or a criminal and took it upon themselves to repeat the action in school.
"How do you," she sniffled again, breaking her voice. "How do you deal with it? I kn-know you just act like it bothers you, w-why don't you ever get m-mad?"
I idly rubbed circles on her back. "Well it's mostly just annoying for me when they actually take my stuff or something, but their words never hurt because I don't care about them." I sighed. "I see it like this; I don't know those kids. I don't like them. I don't want their approval or their acceptance, I don't want them to love me or even like me. So why should I care what they think? Some shinobi in other villages think Taki shinobi are dumb and weak, but should I get mad at that? No. Because it doesn't matter what they think. They mean nothing to me."
Fu seemed to be processing this so I gently pulled her down to the ground with me and let her lean against my side as we stared at the waterfall. "You want to make friends Fu, and I get that. I really do. Just because you're my only friend doesn't mean I wouldn't like more, but I don't see that coming from the kids here. These kids have been raised by their parents not to like you." Fu cried a little harder at this, so I squeezed her shoulder and applied some warmth by running my chakra along our points of contact. "They don't know any better. And they won't be convinced otherwise since everyone around them is reminding them not to like you, too." Naruto managing to make any friends was a direct result of the terribly kept secret providing just enough insulation to keep it from spreading to too many kids, the parents of those shinobi kids not having such bias, and Kishimoto ContrivanceTM. "The teachers aren't bad, but they can't and won't stop kids from acting like this."
"Why n-not?"
"Because kids will be kids. The teachers have seen it happen time and time again, and most ninja know that coddling a child never makes them stronger. They probably see this as a chance for you to get tougher."
"So w-what am I supposed to do?" the poor girl pleaded with me.
"Remember what I said; they don't matter, so ignore them. If they want to be nice or friendly give them a chance, but if they want to be jerks then just walk right past them. If they get physical then you fight back enough to get away, don't try to beat them up. If they continue, well…" I looked at her and gave a wicked smile. "Real shinobi strike from the shadows."
She gave a watery giggle at that, but the smile faded quickly. "But I want some friends…"
"And you have some," I reminded her. "Me, Shibuki-sama, and Chomei-san. Maybe one day we'll be out of this village and you can make some new friends where the people don't know you yet. It's a big world out there, I'm sure there are plenty of people who will like you, just waiting to meet you." I bet she and Naruto would get along famously.
Fu smiled and wiped her eyes. "Yeah. Yeah, you're r-right. Who needs these dummies if they're gonna be mean. I'll make lots of foreign friends and they'll be really cool!"
"And how many kids can say they're friends with a giant seven-tailed beetle?" I said with a grin. "Because I only know one."
Fu beamed at me, then tilted her head to the side. "Actually, um, Chomei-san says she'd like to be your friend, too."
"I'd like that very much, Chomei-san," I replied with a smile, before pausing. "Wait, you two can talk normally now?"
The jinchuriki continued beaming at me. "I was gonna tell you today, but I forgot when I got sad. We finally got it down!"
"That's great news!" I cheered. "A built-in best friend and partner. She shares all your senses and a few of her own, so she could help you out in combat if she spots a trap or something you missed"
She nodded excitedly. "Chomei-san said the same thing!"
"Well, she's probably very wise after all these years."
Fu unfocused for a second, before giggling. "She says it's rude to comment on a lady's age, Ito-sensei."
"Ah yes, do forgive me, Chomei-san." I winked at Fu though, which made her giggle again at another inside joke. "Anyways, I've got some stuff to show you, too. Let's send our clones to go train and then follow me."
After a large puff of smoke and directions given, we entered my workshop, which I had decorated and improved a bit over the years. Though in this case, "decorated" meant I had gotten some anatomy charts for the human body and had hand-drawn a few of my own for most of the animals I'd experimented on. The improvements were a mostly sterilized interior courtesy of some lamination and tiles, as well as a sturdy door. I even had a sink from some custom plumbing where I siphoned water from the river above that led to the waterfall and opened a small channel in the wall for me to wash my hands in. It looked far more professional than a square-shaped cave. Today I had two rabbits on the table, thoughtfully sedated and numbed by my shadow clone from the morning.
I paused at the table, then turned to face Fu. She spotted my look and became serious. "Fu, what I'm about to show and tell you is another secret of mine, probably my second biggest secret. It would easily classify as S-rank if it was a village secret. I need you to swear to me, here and now, that you will never tell anyone about it without my direct approval and presence."
Fu's eyes widened a bit, but she gave me a determined nod. "I, Fu, swear not to tell anyone the secrets of my sensei, Ito Ikimono. No matter what those secrets are," she promised.
She phrased in such a way that she means to accept and protect everything I share with her. The thought honestly warmed my heart. I gave her my most sincere smile before putting my game face on, gesturing as I did so.
We donned our safety goggles and masks, as well as aprons. Looking down at the two rabbits, I picked one and cut off its hind leg. It was left there to bleed for thirty seconds, before I raised my hand over it and black threads shot out of my palm.
Fu gasped, but didn't move or interrupt as the threads pulled the leg back to the body and sewed it together, writhing through the flesh as it hopefully connected all the nerves and blood vessels back together, muscles repaired and reattached. I carefully examined the leg, gently moving it back and forth to see how sturdy it was, but knew that it likely would be tender and limited for some time. I'd need to test to see if it was adequately healing on the inside later. The threads visible from the outside became inactive, and looked like no more than sewing thread or stitches.
"In my family's extensive library, I discovered a scroll for the Earth Grudge Fear jutsu, which I had been looking for tirelessly ever since I knew of the technique. I've been working on medicine and medical jutsu for years because I needed to be good enough at them to learn the Jiongu. I intend to fully master the technique, to take the form to its penultimate." I finished observing the test subject and looked to Fu, who was… honestly not as shocked as I expected.
"Um, Ito san… that looks cool, but I'm not sure what it really is."
I felt like smacking myself in the face. Of course she wouldn't know what it is. It's not like anybody really talked about the jutsu in public and she wasn't even done with her first year of history classes. Kakuzu wouldn't be mentioned for months yet.
I sighed and sat down, motioning for her to do the same and removing our protections. "Okay, so here's an early history lesson, without some of the BS the school will cover it with…
"During the warring clans era, before even the first Shinobi War, there was a Taki ninja named Kakuzu. Over the years, he witnessed countless horrible injuries and fates of his fellow shinobi. Kakuzu served as a medic, and he was very good at it, becoming one of the most skilled in the entire Takigakure shinobi forces. He utilized a special jutsu that few others in the village ever wielded, known as the Earth Grudge Fear jutsu, or the Jiongu. It was Taki's most prized forbidden jutsu. With it, he was able to transform part of his body into black threads, which were filled with healing chakra. It allowed him to reattach limbs, replace organs, even save someone from decapitation if he was there when it happened. He was fiercely loyal and loved his village dearly. He took the Jiongu beyond the limits of what people thought possible, eventually replacing every part of his body with the black threads of the jutsu. He could split his body apart to attack with the threads, using them to pierce and grab enemies, and little could harm him since all of his organs, except for his heart and skin, had been replaced by the threads."
I held up my hand and a few threads pokes out from my palm. It hurt a bit, but I'd get used to it. I'd only converted a very small part of my hands into the threads so far, and it had taken a while to do even just that. Fu watched, enraptured.
"One day, for whatever reason, Takigakure's ruling council decided that they wanted Hashirama Senju dead. You know who he is, right?" Fu nodded quickly, eager for me to continue. "Perhaps they feared the power that he wielded, maybe they hated how they were setting the status quo for the world, who knows. In any case, Kakuzu was the elite among elites of the village, and the council sent him on an assassination mission against the fabled god of shinobi of their era. He knew it may well be suicide, he did so because it was his duty. Unsurprisingly, he failed in this attempt, despite how hard he tried. Hashirama, also for whatever reason, decided to spare his would-be assassin. Kakuzu returned home, having failed in this fool's errand, and was met with a reception he hadn't expected. He was called an utter failure, stigmatized by the village, and harshly punished. All for the crime of not being able to kill the strongest man who ever lived."
Fu looked understandably confused and angry at that, which I approved of. Kakuzu had really been bent over the table by his village. Between him and Pakura, it's a wonder villages manage to get anybody to S-rank when they're killing off their best ninjas for stupid reasons. Fucking Kishimoto.
"As you can imagine, Kakuzu didn't take this well. He'd risked everything he had for years to help his village, then he failed one impossible task he by all rights shouldn't have survived, and then his home crushes him for it? This changed the man. He went from being the most loyal and powerful of shinobi to hating his village with a deep and burning passion. So he escaped from prison, assassinated the elders, ripped out their beating hearts, integrated them into his own body, then went on a little shopping trip around the village. He rounded up every copy of the Jiongu jutsu and destroyed them, as well as killing the only other wielders. From there, rumors have it he delved heavily into the black market to make a living and found himself quite enjoying it. They say he's a greedy man, always after more money.
"The hearts he had stolen were because of another power of the mastered jiongu; you could fit up to five hearts inside your body, having them boost your chakra supply and even get whatever element the previous owner was good at. Until all hearts are destroyed, the jiongu user cannot die. Kakuzu is an immortal bounty hunter, a boogeyman of the ninja world."
Just looking at Fu, I could tell there was a roiling mass of emotions going through her. Her opinion of the village no doubt took a hit, and she probably felt sad for what happened to the man. Finally, she seemed to focus on what I'd said about trying to learn the technique too. "That's an amazing jutsu! So why is it a secret? You could just go to Shibuki-sama and he could get some copies made in no time!"
"No," I said emphatically. "Nobody can know about this, not even him."
The jinchuriki tilted her head, clearly confused. "Why not?"
"Because of how dangerous this jutsu is. Kakuzu demonstrated the destructive and deadly potential of this technique over fifty years ago, what would happen if more people started trying to use it like him? Plus, what if Kakuzu finds out the jutsu is around again? He'd come back and raze Takigakure to the ground to make sure it stays buried." Fu started fidgeting and looking uncomfortable. "I have many theories about how far I can take this jutsu and just how horrifyingly powerful it can become, and if anyone knew then somebody would try stopping me and taking it for themselves, and I won't let that happen. But I can't lie to you about this or try to hide it."
The girl seemed to take all of this in, before slowly nodding. "Okay, sensei. If you think it's best."
"I do, Fu. This is very important to me. But I know I can trust you."
She smiled at me, then gave a cheeky grin. "So what's your biggest secret, then? If it's bigger than this, it must be really something!"
Oh you have no idea, I thought. Still, I chuckled, appreciating her effort to lighten the mood. "Oh, that one stays with me for now."
"Pleeeeeaaaaaase?" Fu begged cutely. "Please, sensei? Pretty please?"
"You've had enough revelations for one day, I think. Now come on, Fu-chan, I need to do some more limb reattachment tests." She blushed a little at my change in suffix for her. I started re-donning my protection. "I'll do one of the front legs on the other, then wake up this other one and let it move around a bit, see how it's doing."
The tanned girl pouted, but put on her own gear and watched closely.
Fu was excited. That's not exactly an uncommon state of being for her, but this time it was about me. More specifically, my house. Today was a weekend, and one of our rest days, but we decided to meet up for lunch anyway. When we had, Fu had timidly asked if it would be okay for her to come visit my house, since we'd been friends for a year and a half now and never been to each other's home. While unsure how Benjiro would react, I figured we may as well get that confrontation out of the way sooner rather than later.
Our house was actually pretty decently sized, meant to house up to ten people. Back when our family's prime, that was a reasonable amount of family members to be living there. It was basically split up in a front and back "house" though, mirrors of each other. Benjiro and I lived in the front house. To Fu, it may as well have been a mansion. It wasn't a proper clan compound or even close, but she thought it was very impressive. I had to prod her forward through the front door.
"Grandfather, I'm home and I've brought a guest," I loudly declared.
Fu was looking everywhere at our home, trying to take it all in. She barely noticed when Benjiro came around the corner from his room. He used a cane these days, just couldn't get around like he used to. The old man seemed surprised, but hid it well. It wasn't every day his antisocial grandson brought home a girl, nor was it every day that the Jinchuriki of the village was found standing in your entryway gawking at everything. I cleared my throat, which got her to pay attention.
"Welcome to our family home. I am Benjiro Ikimono, head of our family," he introduced himself calmly.
Fu had the decency to blush a bit at her lack of focus. "It's nice to meet you, Ikimono-san. My name is Fu." The girl gave a bow, which Benjiro returned formally.
"Come in, then. Grandson, fix us some tea, would you?"
I nodded and gave a reassuring glance to Fu. She knew I would be keeping an ear on them while I ran the kettle in the kitchen and found some teabags.
"You have a very nice home, Ikimono-san. The poems and stuff are really cool."
"Thank you, Fu-san, but they are not poems. They are excerpts from history, science, and culture stories authored by ancestors in our family."
"Oh. That's even cooler! Were they all ninja like you?"
"No, not all of them. Some didn't have the aptitude for shinobi work."
"But you were a ninja, right Ikimono-san? What was that like?"
The old man hummed thoughtfully. "It was… difficult. My team took the chunin exam three times before I managed to pass. Shortly after, we took a mission outside the village, where my teammates were killed. I decided to move from active shinobi duty to work in the archives."
There was a pregnant pause, and I could just imagine Fu squirming in her seat. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pried."
"You merely asked a simple question. Prying would have been asking what happened to them, or how I met my late wife. Consider it a lesson for the future."
The tea kettle whistled at me, and I brought it over along with some cups for us. I poured for everyone, and we sat quietly for a bit before my grandfather spoke again. "Tell me, Fu-san, what do you know about your seal?"
Well, this was random.
"Eh?" She blinked. "Uh, it keeps the Nanabi inside myself, and lets me use some of her chakra. Why?"
Benjiro's eyes narrowed at the word "her" and gave me a sideways glance. "Because I would like to make a copy of it, if you would allow me."
Fu looked even more confused, and even a bit anxious. "Uh, why?"
"Our family's library contains many works and teachings of fuuinjutsu, but none as complex as biju seals. I'm passable in the art myself. I would like to add an example of such a seal to our collection."
Fu looked unsure, and looked over to me. "Nothing would be done to harm you or the Nanabi, I assure you," the old man added, seeing her conflicted expression.
I gave the jinchuriki a shrug, basically saying "your choice" and pushing the ball back in her court. This was a decision I had no say in. If I thought for a moment that grandfather was planning something, or had malicious intent, I would've advised against it. In this case, though, the man's intentions were completely honest and academic. Biju seals really were damned impressive and were well worth the study by advanced students of the art.
Fu looked down, staring at her cup and fidgeting a bit. It looked to me like she was asking Chomei what she thought. After a minute, she took a big sip and exhaled slowly. "As long as you can promise you won't let it out of your library, I'll do it."
Benjiro gave her a rare smile. "Very well. I promise the copy of your seal shall remain in our family's library." He drained his cup and I did likewise. "If you'll follow me, we'll take this to somewhere more private." He stood up, using his cane to support himself. "Grandson, if you wouldn't mind retrieving one of our spare copy scrolls and meeting me in my room."
I gave Fu a reassuring nod and descended to our library. Would've been difficult for the man to try making all these stairs in his state. I returned and saw grandpa had shuffled some of his furniture to the side and left a tatami mat for Fu to sit on in the middle of the room. I handed him the scroll and sat opposite the girl.
"Please show the seal," he said while laying the scroll in her lap and dabbing it with ink.
Fu rolled her shirt up enough so her midriff was showing, then channeled some chakra until her seal became visible. My memory's fuzzy, so I couldn't tell how similar it was to Naruto's. Benjiro went through a series of handsigns at quite the pace considering his age, and paused on the last one. "Now grandson, press the scroll against her stomach and hold it there."
I leaned over and did so, my face quite close to Fu's. She just smiled at me as the seal seemed to glow for a minute, and the old man released the handsign. I took that as my signal and pulled away the paper, which now bore the copy. It was passed to Benjiro, who looked at it with something between pride and happiness. "Thank you, Fu-san. The Ikimono family will guard this with pride, as we have with all knowledge for decades." He grabbed a brush and quickly wrote down the time and date of the copy's creation, as well as the copier (himself) and Fu's name for her contribution.
Fu seemed inordinately pleased at that, and beamed at the older man. He had me deliver the copy to our library, where I placed it with other high-level fuuinjutsu texts next to gardening techniques.
After that was done, Fu and I spent the rest of the afternoon and a ways into the evening watching old movies on our VCR. The girl didn't have one in her house, and was completely consumed by it. I thought about old men waving sticks and complaining about "Kids these days can't get off the damn telly" and made myself laugh. Noticing the lateness of the hour, Fu said she should probably head out. While I agreed, I also decided to walk her home. She readily agreed.
It was early summer, so the evening air was just barely cool, if a bit uncomfortably humid. We took our time and walked along the edge of the great lake, enjoying the dappled moonlight that broke through the great tree play off the water's surface. Neither of us spoke, perfectly content in the comfortable silence that hung around us.
Fu's place was quite simple, a small one-bedroom house close to the lake. "You'll have to let me visit some time," I told her as we paused at her door.
"Sure, Ito-sensei. Can I come visit you again soon?" she asked hopefully.
That would depend entirely on my Benjiro's reaction. I'd spotted the look he gave me, a conversation was definitely due. "I'll have to check with my grandfather, but it should be fine."
She grinned and jumped. "Awesome!"
I chuckled. "I need to get back. Good night, Fu-san."
The girl hugged me tightly. "Good night, Ito-sensei. Thanks for walking me home." With that, she turned and entered her house.
I rubbed my face and jogged back to my place, where I found Benjiro at the table, sipping some of the tea. Seems he reheated the kettle. The room was lit by a paper lantern we had over the table, candle flickering inside.
"You didn't mention your friend was the Nanabi jinchuriki," he stated.
"You never asked much about her, and it didn't seem relevant."
"Relevant?" he asked with narrowed eyes. "If a ninja were to enter our home, I think it would be relevant to know if he was carrying explosive tags and a sword."
"Are you really that worried about an eight year old girl, regardless of what she has sealed inside her?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
Benjiro glared at me a moment. "Do not take that tone with me, grandson." He sighed. "Of course not. I'm no fool. I just fear what sort of attention would be drawn to our home if it was known that we were allied with someone widely feared and hated."
"The village leader, as well as any intelligent person, would see and appreciate the kindness we've shown her thus far." I sat down and poured myself some tea. "I'm now known well as her friend, though not as her sensei. You don't know the kinds of things the children at school try to pull on me for that simple fact. Believe me, I'm perfectly aware of what people may think or say about her associating with our family, and I don't care."
"It is our duty to protect our family's legacy and home," he reminded me. He went to take a sip, only to notice he had finished his cup. A shaky hand reached for the kettle, but I took it and poured him a new cup myself.
"We can do that and not throw her to the wolves. Our family values knowledge. Wisdom. Intelligence. By treating her like the leper the rest of the village considers her as, we prove ourselves to be as foolish and ignorant as them." I sighed and set down my cup. "Grandfather, above all; she's my friend. My only friend. I'll not forsake her to make our lives a little easier."
The two of us sat there for a few minutes more, idly watching the shadows dance off our forms from the candlelight.
"You are wise, grandson," he suddenly praised. "You've always been too wise and smart for a boy your age."
Where was this sudden praise coming from? I don't think I'd ever heard the old man talk like this. I kept my suspicion quiet and merely sipped my tea.
Benjiro stood, said "Make sure to clean up," and returned to his room. I took care of the dishes and followed suit.
It's amazing the sort of things you can accomplish with a little money, a little creativity, some dedication, and a few shadow clones under transformation jutsus.
For our friend anniversary, Fu and I decided to get her some revenge. There were a few girls who were basically the alpha bitches when it came to bullying Fu. Fu had gotten much better at tuning them out or rebutting cleverly, which made them angrier. They attempted multiple pranks on her and a couple on myself. Juvenile things, nothing terribly harmful or threatening, but it was very annoying and we'd decided that it was high time they received a lesson most shinobi should learn quickly if they wanted to survive.
Never step on powerful ninjas' toes if you weren't prepared for the consequences.
They entered the girl's bathroom, gossiping and insulting people with every sentence. It shows how petty they really must be if this is what they talked about in private. The second they passed the door, a disguised clone of mine who looked like an upper year slipped over and hung an "Out of Order" sign on the door. Inside, we waited until they had gone into the stalls and made our move.
Spools of ninja wire were not expensive, considering the fact that few ninjas ever properly made use of them. We had taken two of these spools and spent all week weaving and tying them together into a spacious but intricate web of connected wires. It was hidden in the tiles above the bathroom, and the moment they were on the toilet, a few of Fu's clones silently dropped down and stuck the ends of it to various points all around the bathroom with glue. Then those clones quietly climbed back into place, and we waited.
A few minutes more of inane chatter went by before one of them finally opened their door and yelped, which caught the other two's attention. "What the hell? What is this? How did this get here?"
The trio were standing in their stalls, looking out at the mass of wires in front of them. "Let's just leave. This is stupid," one declared, poorly concealing her fears.
The others agreed and they tried to get out. But they were quickly getting themselves caught and tangled in the mess, so they were going very slowly. Then, they heard a skittering noise coming from above them. Leader girl whipped her head around to the corner of the room and shouted "Who's there? You better cut it out!" The skittering noise only grew louder, and seemed to be coming from all along the back wall behind them.
Suddenly, the tiles on the ceiling in the back were pulled up, and out crawled a legion of Fu's clones.
The clones were henge'd into dog-sized spiders.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The trio screamed. "KAI! KAI!" they shouted, only to discover that these were not illusions. These were very real.
"GET AWAY! WE NEED TO GET OUT! STOP, DON'T COME NEAR ME! AAAAAAH!"
The spiders slowly navigated the webs towards the girls, who were pulling and climbing as fast as they could to get out of the webs, screaming at the top of their lungs. They reached an open spot near the door, but the knob wouldn't turn. My clone had jimmied it shut by sticking a piece of metal in the locking mechanism.
So there they were, three screaming prepubescent girls pissing themselves in terror as an army of spiders descended upon them from all angles. One reached out for them, and they all hurled themselves against the door, which suddenly popped open. Outside were a lot of students, as well as a few faculty members. The ninjas looked ready for a fight, but merely looked confused as the girls stumbled out and fell in a heap on the floor.
"KILL THEM! GET THEM AWAY! OH GOD, MOMMY!" they cried.
However, when they turned and looked, they saw a perfectly normal looking bathroom.
You see, everything we used in there was cloned. The web was merely a clone of the web which we had stored in my house. As was the sign, the glue, and the metal door jammer I'd made; all the equipment Fu and I carried on us when we made the clones of ourselves. When the girls looked away and charged the door, the disguised clones all dispelled and took the equipment with them. Hence the complete lack of evidence. So all the gathered people saw were three girls, who had clearly wet themselves (despite having just gone to the bathroom), screaming and crying like a bunch of crazy people. A few teachers quietly muttered "kai" to see if that would release them from a genjutsu, but there wasn't one. So the teachers started shuffling the students away while another took them to the infirmary.
As they walked away, they spotted Fu standing off to one side in the middle of the hallway inconspicuously. When they locked eyes, Fu gave them an evil grin and stared without blinking.
She'd been working on that look for three days.
When the girls tried to get the teacher's attention and point her out, they looked back and saw nothing.
Of course since we used clones for the whole thing, our alibis were rock solid and the girls would never be able to prove anything while knowing it was her.
The act hadn't endeared her to the girls, but their reputations were practically done for now. They tried to spread gossip and tear her down more, but Fu weathered the looks and words with the calm of a gracious victor. People accused and blamed her for things over and over, her own reputation not improving by the stunt, threw out more insults, but she didn't care. From that day forward, nobody pranked her.
The girl had accepted my advice of forgetting about the awful people here in Taki and simply waited for her time to make friends in the rest of the world.
Speaking of school though, our physical training classes were not very exciting. The Takigakure academy style taijutsu was one that merely helped you build up your basics, and was never meant to be used as a serious fighting style when out on active duty. The slack was meant to be picked up by jounin senseis, or at least a style scroll if you could get your hands on one. My sparring bouts were basically me just playing defensively, further adding to my unimpressive reputation. They weren't much for actual training, though. Fu may not have been a skilled fighter, but great stamina and a lot of clones filled in the gaps. I still beat her consistently one-on-one. Those chakra scalpels were deadly. I couldn't imagine someone like Rock Lee having those.
In any case, the day ended and I needed to meet up with Fu at the training grounds.
Thanks for tuning in, folks. I've got to say, I really should've expected the higher viewer and review count on this story compared to my others. Naruto is the top Fanfiction source material, after all.
If you're a fan of Skyrim and the Elder Scrolls in general, please check out my Skyrim fanfic I'm co-writing with my brother. It's called "Legend of the Brothers' Fury" which translates into "Zoor Zeymaha Nah" in Dovah.
Stay healthy out there, folks.
-Waki.