"Bye Ayae!"
"Bye Reina, bye Nanami!"
"See you tomorrow, Ayae."
"See you Masae! Bye Kumiko!"
"Good night, Ayae!"
"Good night, Yuuka! Good night, Sayuri!"
"Bye-!"
With one hand, I steadied Mimi. With my other, I caught her books. "Bye Mimi!" I said, handing back her books.
Balancing her stack, Mimi laughed nervously.
Other students waved goodbye. I waved back with the chalkboard eraser.
"Damn, you're getting even more popular than Ayame," Dai whistled, leaning against her broom.
"I wish!" I went back to wiping the chalkboard. "Ayame brings homemade taiyaki to class. All I've got is family drama."
"Juicy family drama."
I gave Dai a teasing push. She gave a small kick back.
It had been a month since I started normal school. Turned out, coming to normal school had been the BEST!
I made more friends than ever. And without training, I had so much more time! For years, I had done nothing but eat, sleep, and train. But now, I could dance as much as I wanted. I was watching television. I was drawing. I was playing card games and video games and board games. I learned how to ride a bike for the first time.
Any worry I had before about fitting in was gone. Once I got to know my classmates, and my classmates got to know me, we got along like peas in a pod. Everyone liked to hear stories about my family. Big or small, crazy or stupid, they wanted to know everything. So I'd share stories every lunch break. The Dropouts called it 'Keeping Up with the Uchiha'. Setsu was working with Reina on making it a comic book.
Life was good. It was so good, I felt embarrassed looking back. It was all ninja, ninja, ninja. I never gave anything else a chance, thinking it couldn't be good or that it couldn't be for me. It was very close-minded of me.
Dai glanced at the clock. "Oh shoot, it's already five."
"Go, go! I'll finish up." I knew Dai had an interview for her new apprenticeship.
Tamaki had left earlier for her own interviews. She had been applying to bank offices. This one was for an apprentice bookkeeper, but she wasn't interested. She only went to please her mom.
What Tamaki really wanted was to work under Emi. Our visit to the fabric shop had inspired her to be a fashion designer. But Tamaki claimed she wasn't ready yet, so she had been practicing sewing until she got good enough to apply.
I hadn't had any luck yet, but I was hopeful. I'd find my place eventually.
"Thanks, owe you!" Dai said, rushing out with her backpack.
Once the door closed, I continued to clean the classroom. At the Academy, cleaning was for dead lasts and delinquents. At normal school, everyone took turns cleaning, even top students. Dai and I were up this time. I didn't mind, already used to it.
After wiping the chalkboard, I moved on to sweeping the floors. Finally, I had to gather everyone's diaries and bring them to the teacher's office.
One by one, I collected the blue booklet from the student's desks. As I pulled one booklet free, something dropped out.
It rolled.
"Oh no!"
I put down my stack of booklets to search for whatever that fell. It was a button pin.
I froze, recognizing that color and design.
Swallowing, I looked at the name on the booklet in my hand.
Yuuka.
After looking around, I picked up the pin and secretly put it back inside Yuuka's desk. I gathered the rest of the booklets and brought them to the teacher's office.
I had my own place to be. Grabbing my backpack, I ran out.
The way there was not at all tough. I just needed a good pair of climbing gloves. Once I was near the top, a hand reached out.
Gin grinned, pulling me up.
I breathed, peeling off my gloves.
"Wow!" I said, looking into the distance. We could see the whole village. The main roads branched out like the ribs of a folding fan, dividing the buildings up into districts. Poking out from the trees were telephone poles and water towers and rooftops.
"Great view, right?"
I nodded.
Already on top of the Hokage monument were Hana and Naruto. Between them was a box of gear and supplies.
Hana looked good in her new forehead protector. Gin had his strapped to his arm.
Naruto had his arms spread out wide, feeling the wind. He was wearing goggles and pretending to be a bird.
Despite going separate ways, the four of us were back together for another round of community service. It didn't matter if we graduated or switched schools or stayed where we were, we all still had three months left to go!
The assignment this time was the biggest one yet. The Hokage monument was a pride of the village, so getting to take care of it was a huge honor. We would have never gotten the job had Gin and Hana not been genin.
Our task was simple. Because the monument was rock, it got worn over time by earthquakes and rain. Cracks would happen. We had to seal the cracks with this special glue before they got any worse, then cover it with sand. Then, tada, good as new!
After several hours on the ropes, we had the First and Second Hokage polished. The Fourth Hokage, unfortunately, suddenly had a mustache thanks to Naruto and the paintbrush in his mouth. It gave the rest of us a heart attack, and we screamed and struggled and finally cleaned the paint before any of the supervisors noticed.
Soon the sun was setting. There were spots we missed, so we would have to return another day. We didn't mind. It was wonderful being together after a time apart. It had only been six weeks but it felt like six months.
We sat on top of the First Hokage's head. Gin told me about the ninja side of life. He showed me his ID. For the first time ever, he had his photograph taken. Photos, after all, were rare. They cost a lot and most people only had them for important papers or special events, like weddings. Naruto and I fought to see his card.
I snickered. Naruto did too. Gin looked so serious in his photo! Gin snatched his card back, saying he was supposed to look serious. After all, he was now a professional.
Naruto thought Gin lost out. If it were him, he'd go all out.
After photos and registration was team assignment. Gin got put with Ijouna and Hosei. When I asked about all the cool, exciting missions, he groaned.
Apparently I didn't miss much. Their work didn't sound that different from my moral education classes. Occasionally, they did get weird requests.
For example, there was one nobleman who decided he wanted to see herons. But instead of waiting for heron season like a normal person, he made Gin's team bring the herons to him. Which meant carrying fifty birds over three hundred kilometers… and BACK! By the end of it, Gin was as traumatized as the birds.
Gin knew he'd be working for lazy, rich noblemen, but he never thought it could be possible for people to be that lazy or that rich. Gin did not feel bad taking their money at all.
Hana snickered.
"What about you, Hana?" I asked.
"About the same. We did get one C-rank and faced some bandits. Michio got them quick though."
My jaw dropped. "Michio is on your team?"
Hana and Gin were surprised by my reaction. They had forgotten that I hadn't been there. I never saw the final rankings.
Hana had gotten first place. Michio had gotten dead last.
"How?!"
This was old news to them. Gin waved his cap and let Hana explain.
"Oh, he rigged everyone's exam scores and made a complete mockery of the teaming system." Hana said it in total deadpan.
"He did?!" I thought back to the day of our final exam. Had the teachers been right to accuse him all along? I could already imagine Michio's smug look.
Hana nodded.
She told me student rankings were used to balance genin teams. But that had flaws. For one, it ignored team dynamics. Certain personalities were disastrous together. And not all strengths complemented each other.
The old idea was to have the bottom student learn from the top student, and for the top student to carry the team. But it only ended up making the top student tackle everything alone. And it put the bottom student in situations that were way out of their depth.
Despite not agreeing with Michio's methods, Hana did think Michio's system worked… a little better.
"What's that?"
"Putting all the friends together."
I blinked.
Friends looked out for each other. And by nature, we gravitated towards people who we worked well with.
After attending the Academy, Michio knew his classmates. He could tell who would work well together. He could tell which students would come out as good shinobi and who would come out as awful ones. At least, he thought he knew better than the teachers anyway.
Hana thought he was too cocky. She didn't like him being a judge on who passed and who didn't.
Unfortunately, that was also why Michio chose Hana for his team. Hana saw him fully. She would call him out if he stepped out of line.
"Oh, and he listened to you."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"He's started a bootcamp for genin graduates. He thinks the school's training regiment is too weak and has created this fake it until you make it culture that emphasizes confidence over competence. He wants to correct that with a new mixed-style teaching centered on humility."
"Too many big words, Hana!" I whined.
On my back, Naruto also whined. He liked the genin stories but was starting to get bored. He waved his arm, trying to steal Gin's forehead protector.
"Your cousin started his own school. People are signing up to get their asses kicked," Gin translated for me. He brushed Naruto off.
"Oh." I turned to Hana. "That's great! Michio's a good teacher."
"Surprisingly," Hana mumbled. "He's following heaven-earth philosophies. The techniques are very… Uchiha."
"Well, he is Uchiha," I said, sweat-dropping.
"No, I mean, they're techniques your clan developed… for your clan."
"Wait, hold up," Gin said, suddenly alert. "Are you saying he's giving away secret clan techniques?"
I didn't get what the big deal was.
Hana explained you don't do that. Clan secrets were valuable and treasured. You weren't supposed to share them with people outside the family.
"But Hana, you did that," I said, furrowing my brows. "When you tried to teach me ninjutsu."
"Not supposed to," Hana repeated, frowning. "Besides, I was just teaching you. That's different from teaching everyone."
She explained that the last time the Uchiha shared a technique, it was the fireball. And that was all the way back at the founding of the village.
It was one of the Three Great Gifts. The other two were Three-Five-Seven Seal, released by the Uzumaki, and the Mystical Palm, released by the Senju.
These three gifts were super important. They rewrote history.
See, ages ago, if you came from a clan, you learned your clan's techniques. But if you had no clan, or if your clan's techniques sucked, then you had nothing to learn from. This then created a self-fulfilling cycle, where over time the best clans would get better and better, while the worst clans would get worse and worse. This was because the best clans would keep winning, keep improving, keep discovering secrets. Meanwhile, the worst clans would be too busy trying to survive to leave anything behind for their kids. And even when they did create something, stronger clans would steal them.
This all changed with the founding of Konoha, when three of the best clans came together and offered to each share something with everyone.
The Three Great Gifts was one of the reasons so many clans joined and swore allegiance to Konoha. Because in Konoha was this promise of equality. Of fairness. You were no longer a shinobi of this great clan or a shinobi of this sucky clan, you were a shinobi of Konoha.
And the shinobi of Konoha turned out to be insanely powerful. The best clans had at most a hundred capable soldiers. Konoha had created tens of thousands. Most of them had no clan signature style, but all had the Konoha signature style. Fire, seals, healing. Ninja from other villages could recognize it in a heartbeat.
"Healing…" I turned to Gin. "That medical-nin. She learned to do that because of the Senju?"
"The medical-nin, as we know of it today, is a direct result of Lady Tsunade's legislation," Hana said. "She personally trained an entire generation of kunoichi to make sure they got right."
"Wow! Sharing sounds great!" I said, nodding enthusiastically. "Why don't we do it more?"
Here, Hana looked uneasy. "Well, there used to be a big push for it. The First Hokage was really into this clanless idea. And the Uzumaki went for it. They even gave their clan insignia to the village. To this day, Uzumaki is a name anyone without one can claim."
Naruto, who had been listening, stopped. His hands froze midair in his latest attempt to steal Gin's forehead protector.
Hana looked down. "One can argue that the clan name is the most precious thing someone can give. In it is your history, your identity, and your honor. The Uzumaki is heralded as one of the longest lines of shinobi blood, one of the most noble and honorable to exist. By giving their name away, they invited everyone to live in pride. They welcomed everyone into their family."
Naruto went watery-eyed. That was when I remembered. Naruto was an orphan, and Uzumaki… was his surname. He really liked that surname.
I pulled him into my arms. He didn't resist. I patted his back, trying to ignore the snot dripping down my chest.
"Well, then what?" Naruto croaked, breaking the silence.
Hana jumped.
"The integration policies just… weren't popular," she said carefully. "The Second Hokage repealed most of them after he took office. He argued that sharing would hinder progress as a whole. No clan has incentive to invent jutsu when they can just wait for another clan to do it and then take it from them. Furthermore, it was a matter of fairness. If you worked hard to give your family something, you shouldn't be forced to give it to everyone else. Many clans agreed with his points, and so… here we are."
"Well, the Second Hokage is wrong and can go suck-"
I pulled Naruto back into my chest. I laughed nervously.
"The Uzumaki sound like the real boss," Naruto mumbled into my shirt.
I didn't disagree. The Uzumaki did sound great.
For Naruto, that was enough. He calmed and even started smiling. He liked his name, and instead of liking it less, he liked his name even more.
I was glad.
Still, everything was a little confusing. Sharing meant everything was more fair. But not sharing also meant everything was more fair.
I was startled to hear Gin laugh.
"It'll hinder progress. Is that the bullshit they tell themselves?"
"Gin…"
"Ayae, you want to know why clans don't want to share their clan secrets? You and me. There's one jounin position. Your clan teaches you some fancy techniques that make you better than me. Position is yours." He inhaled, trying not to sound too mad. "Now, let's say the First Hokage forces your clan to teach those fancy techniques to everyone. And let's say I learn it faster. I learn it better. Position is mine. That's why, Ayae. People with everything want to keep everything, and they'll say anything if it lets them get away with it."
I sensed the tension between him and Hana.
I pouted.
"Gin, you know if my clan teaches me anything cool, I'll teach you too, right?" I said, pointing to myself.
"That's not…" He slapped his palm over his face. "I know you will do that, because you are a goody-two-shoes dum-dum! But no one else-"
"Michio," I pointed out.
"Then he's another goody-two-shoes dum-dum!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"As his teammate," Hana interrupted. "I'd like to say I think he is doing this out of good intentions?"
"Ha!" Gin said.
"But he's no Ayae," Hana added. "He's not stupid."
"Ha!" I said. I blinked. "Hey wait!" I cried.
"He seems loyal to your clan. I don't see him doing anything that'll put the Uchiha at a disadvantage," Hana said, shrugging. "That brings me to my last point I guess. The reason the Uchiha, Uzumaki, and Senju were okay with sharing, but the other clans weren't. It's just… at the end of the day, those three are so powerful, they're kind of above all of it. Most clans have one technique and that's it, that's the only edge we have. But for a clan like the Uchiha, they have hundreds of jutsus. Giving away one of them doesn't compromise their position. If anything, it's a show off, as if to say they're above the petty politics of other clans… and it kind of pisses me off, just a little," she confessed.
Gin lowered his shoulders. He let Naruto snatch his forehead protector.
Naruto climbed up my back again. With Gin's forehead protector on, he sat on top of my shoulders.
After some thought, I said, "Well, my dad always says sharing is caring." I gave a little sway. Naruto rocked back and forth. He laughed, spreading his arms out again. "So if I do come across any awesome moves, I'll definitely let you know. But I can't force people to share if they don't want to. I'd want them to share because sharing feels good and does good. So if people are only sharing out of obligation or guilt, I feel like somewhere we've missed the point...?" I looked up. "Right, Naruto?"
"Make way, new Hokage here!" Naruto yelled out.
I smiled.
The orphanage was close so it was easy to drop off Naruto. Gin, Hana, and I lived in different directions. Gin had an early mission tomorrow, so he split off first.
Hana walked with me, saying she wanted to be away from home a bit longer. Her little brother could be a headache, kind of like Naruto in some ways.
"So you've gotten our debriefs, but we never got yours. How's everything going?" she asked.
"Great!"
I explained to her everything I had been up to. The more I talked, the more she untensed. I realized that she had been worried about me. I understood why. A year ago, dropping out would have felt like the end of the world.
Hana was being a good friend. She wanted to make sure that their genin stories hadn't made me feel left out.
"I'm glad it worked out," she said after I finished. She sounded lighter.
I nodded. "And for you too!" I paused. "Let me know if Michio gives you a hard time, okay? Especially if he gets too show-offy." I lowered my voice and glanced around. "Or flirty."
Hana bit back a grin. "Oh, you don't need to worry about that one." Seeing my confusion, she rubbed her neck. "We're... a little similar in some aspects. He won't try anything, not on me."
Hana seemed confident in that. I lowered my shoulders. She was probably right. Michio did always treat Hana differently than the other girls. Less playful and more competitive. Maybe because they were both top rank?
At the gate to my district, we said goodbye. Before I went in, I looked up one last time. I stopped.
It was dark now, so it was easy to miss. But tomorrow morning, the village would wake up and see the Third Hokage with a runny nose. The First Hokage will have a spiral on his cheek. And the Second Hokage, the words BUTTFACE on his forehead.
