Ch. 5: Academy
After his odd purchases for the shinobi world, Arashi reached home and began to plan his schedule. He had registered at the Public Library, and brought home a few books about Cooking, Calligraphy and History.
The cooking books would be needed to see what vegetables and spices were actually readily available in this world, and what dishes he could make for his own tastes and nutritional requirements.
The calligraphy books was to practise for his handwriting in the language, which he Knew was not English, and despite his previous shortcomings, he was now fluent in reading, writing, speaking and listening. So he needed to practise writing properly and legibly to pass his tests at the academy. Apart from that, Calligraphy was also the foundation of Fuinjutsu, which as he has learnt from the handbook, is an optional class available in the last two years at the academy.
History, on the other hand was a multi-faceted point of inquiry. It would allow him to verify and ascertain knowledge of the Uchiha and Senju clans, the different clans in the Village and even outside; as well as a record of him accessing the history books would be a reliable excuse for any knowledge which he may end up revealing unintentionally. Because there is no way, a civilian orphan should be aware of the existence of Mangekyo Sharingan, Uzumaki lineage and Fuinjutsu, the history and truth of tailed beasts, the knowledge of jinchuriki and seals used to seal them, or the various shinobi who live today and their special Justus, like that of Raikage, Kazekage, Mizukage, Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Explosion Corps, Puppet Corps and the Anbu specialists.
Having the records of accessing the history books regularly would allow him to check for subtle differences between the cannon as he knows and the reality as it is here in this world. Thus, he had decided to set aside at least three hours for extracurricular reading and self-assigned assignments for as long as necessary.
Apart from the book reading, he needed at least two hours of physical exercise, one hour of muscle conditioning using the Steel Pole, and rope climbing, and one hour to practise with the chains to wrap and grab like Scorpion from Mortal Kombat.
Since he was a child, he could not do weight training, or go for heavy weights, but this much conditioning was sufficient for a young boy, since he expected rigorous accelerated training at the academy.
It was a Saturday, when he finished his shopping, and the Monday was when the academy started its new term. He had done his shopping, and since he was a polite orphan visiting businesses for the first time, and buying in bulk, what he could, he had saved considerably. And given, his cute looks and boyish charms, he had made the men smile and women swoon, which allowed for further discounted goods, after having promised them all to be loyal to them for his needs.
By evening, Arashi stood in front of a mirror and tried on the clothes be purchased. They fit him perfectly, and comfortably and having extra clean pairs of underwear and clothes made him confident and comfortable, after having lived for an entire day in hand-me-downs.
He admired his looks, as he was quite healthy for his age, despite having survived on gruel and bland food in the orphanage. His sharp black onyx eyes radiated intelligence and his silky black hair gave his fair smooth skin a sharp defining contrast. As a five year old child, he had his baby fat on his chin, but he could see, that he would have quite a handsome jawline when he would grow up.
His body was lithe and thin, but he had planned for heavy protein diet along with strenuous exercise to build up his muscles. He didn't like the stickly thin physique and wanted to crush heads with his paws instead of simpering around like a rat. This may have been an effect of him waking up as an orphan, and his association of thin people with malnutrition, but he wouldn't allow himself to be seen as anything less than built like a bull.
His plans laid, his things arranged and sorted, Arashi left out for the evening, to look at the evening hustle during wartimes. High strung people have a tendency to be less inhibited and it could be a distracting entertainment, and a perfect way to dive into the weekend.
Come Sunday, Arashi woke up early when his alarm clock rung 06:00. Waking up earlier than normal, his body was reluctant to push past the comforting warmth and into the cold room, but he managed to push past his reluctance.
He began his warm-up and picked up the heavy Steel Pole, which he could barely pick up, let alone swing around. He knew it would be difficult, but he kept on practising until his wrists trembled, his forearms burner from exhaustion, and his shoulders ached with a slightest movement.
His lungs heaved for breath, and heart thumped while he pushed reluctantly for the final push up. With his morning exercise done as planned, he took a warm shower, and had breakfast while leafing through the Introduction and Primer into Chakra.
He was vaguely aware of the handsigns and their somewhat brief resemblance to Chinese zodiac. But to avoid preconceived notions, he delved right into the theory, while consciously practising and circulating the chakra all over his body, just like he did the first time he came to this world. He allowed to move the chakra to his brain, his heart, his legs and even the tips of his toes and fingers. Sometimes he would speed up, while other times he would slow down. Sometimes he would pull denser chakra while other times, he would coax a minute amount of it.
He had realised, there was no "dantian" or some magical chakra core in his body, where the chakra was concentrated or saturated. Instead it felt chakra was more akin to blood, and seemed to be generated by his entire body and stored in his body equally. To experiment this, he had increased his diet to eat more and healthier, and constantly circulate chakra across his body, at every chance he gets.
The leaf concentration exercises and other chakra control exercises were left aside, until he had a firm grasp and control over internally circulating the chakra, before he would dare to expel it outside his body.
But just for preparation, he had looked into various chakra control exercises which only aspiring Iryo-nin and sensors used. He found a lot of advanced chakra control exercises, which went beyond picking sand particles and separating coloured sands. And apparently chakra strings was an advanced chakra control exercise. Who would've guessed?
The entire day had passed in the blink of an eye, as Arashi finished his chores, and prepared for the next day. Seeing people at the academy would be a sure fire way to pinpoint exact timeline, and finding out what can be done to keep himself out of harm's way for as long as possible.
And so as the alarm rung before daybreak on the cheerful Monday, Arashi was nervous and excited for the academy, and the official start of his journey.