Ch. 7: Butterfly's done messin'!
As Arashi bowed to the most powerful man in the village, he heard the man say in his deep baritone, "So you are Arashi-kun Ka?"
Arashi looked up and answered politely. "Hai Hokage-sama."
"Hmm!"
Sandaime Hokage seemed to muse about something, and the young boy felt as if all his secrets and thoughts lay bare before the intimidating man who stood before him in a relaxed manner.
But to even an untrained eye like Arashi's, the man before him was just as imposing as he expected someone of the scale as Madara or Sage of the Six Paths would be to him. He felt utterly worthless and wanted to cower inside or run away, lest he invited the attention of the man.
While his mind ran a million miles and jumped a hundred hoops, the Hokage merely looked at the boy and smiled like an amiable man would to a child.
"So you want to be assigned to class 1A?"
And Arashi could merely sweat at the imposing question, not because of the question itself, but because of who was asking it.
And all he could do was squeeze out a pitiful, "Hai Hokage-sama.", which would have been inaudible in every other case, if not for the deafening silence in the department, the curious gazes of every individual on the young boy, the attention of the highest authority in the village on the said boy, and the chakra enhanced individuals who stood in the room, who clearly heard the palpable fear from the boy and his answer.
At his answer, some of the attendees were amused, a few sneered in schadenfreude, the competent among them had a critical analysing look in their gaze, while the strong Jonin and Anbu could recognise the fear was not that of a child facing an imposing man, but of a powerless mouse who had seen the cruelty and untold potential for violence from the tiger. And that made them curious about the child, who for all that is said and done, should be utterly ignorant of what even most Shinobi knew consciously.
The said man, no the monster, who led his village competently for so long, and hoped to do so through the current war, looked sharply at Chunin Takashi and nodded. The entire conversation or lack thereof was unnoticed by Arashi, who merely bowed before the Hokage.
He only raised his head, when he felt a gentle hand on his head, which made him instinctively look up and smile with as much positivity he could muster.
He heard, "I expect you to work hard, Arashi-kun." And smiled and agreed with the man, knowing despite the grave error of being under the spotlight, he got what he set out to accomplish if he understood the tone of Hokage's words.
He stood bowed, until the imposing presence was vacated, and he could breathe again. He felt he was once again the center of attention once again, now that the Hokage had left, and he turned to his ex-sensei now.
He saw Takashi take the transfer papers, and saw that the bureaucracy was expedient in their execution, when the boss wants something done.
Takashi smiled at him and said, "Well, now it looks like you will be my student now Arashi-kun. I hope you work hard and make us proud."
Arashi could only smile brightly, and bowed his head. "Hai sensei. Please take care of me!"
Having reached home, Arashi began to read through the notes and new handbook he was assigned. He saw the notes were subtly different, from his own.
Even the handbook had more detailed mention of the Shinobi district and the medicine and other things he could get access to, due to the combat oriented curriculum he was expected to follow.
The restrictions for tools and weapons was same, and no Sharp weapons, explosive tags or sealing scrolls wer allowed until graduation.
The handbook also mentioned he was allowed to venture into the library at the Academy, which he didn't know even existed.
Mentally scheduling a time to visit there tomorrow, he left the books and notes on the coffee table, while he prepared his heavy lunch. He was a staunch supporter of Take Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Prince and Supper like a Pauper.
His schedule also included the recommended Kata for Academy Taijutsu during the evening, which was very light for the 1C class. He had also not stopped his chakra circulation, and he was now getting a good grasp on the control of his own chakra, while being able to accurately judge the amount of chakra he was working with, all the while sensing the relative proportion of his total chakra being diverted in the process.
When he was ready to fall asleep, he took the leaf he had kept in store, and stuck it to his forehead, while channeling his pitiful chakra around the region where the leaf was.
He didn't have an accurate idea of where the chakra was expelled, but he felt the leaf was pushed instead of sticking and being pulled towards his forehead.
He tried again and again, and by adjusting the position to release chakra and the amount being released, he managed to stick the leaf finally, which stuck to his head, giving him a sense of accomplishment at having success so soon.
But that was also a stark reminder of his obvious flaw. He had pitiful amounts of chakra, which while above average for civilian-born students, but surely amounted to less than nothing when compared to the Shinobi clan students, let alone heirs who are known to train from as young as four years old.
Which means, not only did he have to cope up with being able to keep up academically and in combat training, but he also had to compensate for the year long headstart that every student beside him has in the class.
And all that, while genetically drawing the short straw of civilian origin or unremarkable heritage which gave him no goldfinger or boost to keep up.
But all that could not dissuade him from the challenge, or the overwhelming odds that stood in his path. He was willing to work twice as hard, if keeping up with monsters now, while training to within an inch of his death kept him alive to survive the massive world ending threats that would run rampant in the world in a few short decades.
And he could not wait for the time, when he would one such monster, uninhibited and unrestrained by other people or circumstances.
And as they say, the journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step: which translated into chakra control exercises till he is drained to the core, just before he goes to sleep. That way, he could see if continuous strenuous use of chakra and healthy diet increased his chakra reserves by the time he graduates.
Next day, as per the usual warm up and exercise schedule, Arashi got ready with his morning routine, with a single difference being the leaf which he kept stuck to his back and used chakra to move it around while keeping it stuck to his back.
He didn't want others to see him do it openly, but he did want to try and multitask: keeping the chakra flow to the leaf, while being saddled with classwork.
This meant he had to push his mind to limit, as a single slip would release his chakra in a burst, either injuring his body, or blowing the leaf away letting others know what he's doing.
As he saw the new classroom and sat at the back, he noticed, unlike civilian classes, there were quite a few early risers who had already come to the class before him and were animatedly chatting with one other.
When appeared through the door,ball the curious eyes landed on him, as he was quite distinct from the rest of the class, and a new face on the second day of the academy.
He saw a boy approach him, and saw that he was not a cannon character he knew. At a glance, the boy was unremarkable if you miss the gait and measured steps, his gaze which looked for hidden weapons and concealed threats and his evaluating gaze as it landed on the document he held in his hand, which were the transfer documents he had to hand over to Takashi-sensei.
Coming to a right conclusion, the boy addressed Arashi with an outstretched hand, "Welcome to class 1A, I am Masaru Yajirobe. Are you a new transfer?"
Arashi nodded and replied, "Yes, I am Arashi. No last name. An orphan. And I transferred from class 1C."
Instead of the expected dismissal at his orphan status, or the derisive looks for the transfer from the bottom feeders, he got inquisitive looks from almost all the students who looked at him.
Masaru for his part, shook his hand without a hint of discrimination, and asked him, "Sugoi. Did you have good grades to get transferred here? Or did you pass some hidden test yesterday?"
Arashi shrugged. "I asked for a transfer, because the my class was more focused on trade and business compared to combat training. And I was absolutely certain, I didn't want to be a merchant or remain a civilian anymore."
He got looks of approval all around as he saw the children here had matured well beyond their age, and it must be something to do with chakra enhancing every thing about an individual, from his physique to his mental aptitude.
He had also noticed the class was loud and boisterous compared to the subdued class of the civilians. This he mentally attributed to Yang part of chakra making the children hyperactive like on a sugar rush. But he could also see the calm and calculating gaze of the spiky haired children who could only be Nara, the subdued but observant Uchiha with Mikoto Uchiha easily recognizable as the most beautiful girl in the class, with an Ojousama vibe to her.
Then there were the forehead covered Hyuga members and the twins who could only be Hiashi and Hizashi. He noticed a distinct lack of Inoichi, Shukaku or Choza, and realised they must either be older or younger than the group here.
There was also an absence of any other known character, and there were a lot of unknown characters who would either not live past the war or the Kyubi incident to make a mark. Besides the recognised Uchiha, Nara, Hyuga and Akimichi members, there were also loud kids with facial tattoo or marks who sported canines, and could only be Inuzuka members.
He didn't want to get into a pissing contest with them into a pissing contest for dominance, and he was happy with taking an empty back seat, while waiting for Takashi-sensei to arrive.
When the bell rung, and the Chunin entered the classroom, he took a toll call, and asked Arashi to introduce himself. When the homeroom lecture was done, the class was sent for their physical exercise as routine, while also having an obstacle course to clear as quickly as possible.
There were quite a few dangerous obstacles, and Arashi noticed the Chunin Medical Assistance who stood by the sidelines in case of an emergency.
When it was his turn, he took a good look at the obstacles, stopped his leaf concentration exercise, and began the course with a sprint. He finished the course, clocking four minutes and twenty two seconds, coming about ninth from the bottom. At twenty seven participants, he ranked eighteenth, while the first place clocked at a remarkable two minutes and twelve seconds.
With the benchmark set, the instructors started the weapons practise starting with Shuriken, Kunai, then practising to aim at moving targets. Needless to say, he was abysmal in them, since he had the least practise of the group, and his weapons didn't even stick to the targets, hitting them with their blunt side.
But the others didn't laugh at him, as they were quite aware this was the first time, he handled a weapon. As the day passed, Arashi found that on the basis of maths, history and geography he could be ranked at the very top. Similarly his logical reasoning and analytical abilities were on par with Nara students his age.
And his near eidetic memory gave him a further boost for the theoretical subjects. In the practical and physical domain, he was mediocre and merely close to the average of his class. And his weapon handling skills were utterly hopeless. He had made a note to evaluate himself as brutally as possible, so that he gauge which of the subjects and areas need more attention, and which of them could be improved.
All in the all, this wasn't as bad as he imagined.