A/N: Welcome to chapter 4! If it seemed weird that I cut the day in half, don't worry, it was weird to me too! I just wrote so much for this day that it really would've been one loooong chapter. Anyway, as always, responses at the bottom. Tally for now is:
SasuxOC: 2
ShikaxOC: 1
ObitoxOC: 1
Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 4
Kuboyashi was the devil in the form of a 6'2" stock character.
Charlie was convinced of it.
She stood with her arms crossed, glaring the man down like he'd stepped on her toe, and cocking her hip with just the right amount of sass. 'He knows I just moved here. How am I supposed to spar against these kids? EH?'
Oh, yes. You heard that right. Taijutsu class was in full swing, and Charlie was not getting a free pass just because she was the new kid. Unfortunately. So now, she was (in vain) attempting to appeal to his sensibilities. "Kuboyashi-sensei, I don't think I'm-"
"You'll be sparring, just like everyone else. Now, go to your partner." Her partner, by the way, was a tall, gangly sort of kid by the name of Suzuki Taro. He kind of looked like a fish- his hair flipped out at odd angles, and he had a kind of pinched look to his face and a weirdly shaped mouth. Well, maybe he looked more like a squid with those long arms. But anyway.
The kid was tapping his foot and staring her down, obviously impatient to beat her down and get praised for it. And knowing how weak her body was at the moment, he probably could.
Charlie flushed. Her pride was at stake, damn it! "Go," Kuboyashi implored, and pushed her in the kid's direction. Many of the kids were already sparring, including Naruto, who was getting his ass handed to him because he kept staring in confusion at her. Damn it.
Sighing, she ducked her way through the throng to her partner, mean mugging him the whole way. He blinked his too-round eyes at her. "Don't think I'm going easy on you, just cause you're a girl," he muttered at her once she stood a few yards away. He made the seal of confrontation, and she followed suit.
She bent her knees and held her hands by her face, the one stance she remembered seeing from the show itself. 'Minato, I could use your help right about now,' she thought, deadpanning her face against the anxiety she now felt. The kid was bracing himself, too. It was a standoff of wills.
"You'll be fine," Minato said cheerfully.
'What do you mean, fine! This kid's probably been training all his life, and I'm as squishy as a donut!'
The kid was staring at her again, probably hoping she'd attack him first. Fat chance, buddy.
"Just use your brain." Oh, that's helpful. Like she hadn't been before! She'd tried using her brain, and Kuboyashi hadn't let her back out of the fight!
Abruptly, Taro's eyes flashed, and he was charging at her. She couldn't stop the 'eep!' from escaping her mouth as she swept to the side, almost too late. She was so out of her depth here!
Taro was glaring at her now. "Well? Aren't you gonna fight, or are you too scared?" he mocked, his stupid triangle mouth raising into a sneer.
Charlie's face burned.
He made a go at her again, but this time, he predicted (correctly) that she'd duck to the right, and caught her throat with his elbow. The clothesline flattened her on her back, and she coughed, anger flaring up. "Is that even allowed?" she grouched, getting to her feet with a scowl. Her throat felt like a frog had seated itself right next to her windpipe, and it hurt more than she'd admit.
The shithead grinned. He grinned. Oh, now he was gonna get it.
Charlie dashed at him with her fist raised. Taro feigned left and then moved right, jabbing her in the side that she'd neglected to protect. She stumbled a bit, righted herself, and stuck out a leg to trip him. He fell for it, and got a mouthful of dirt for his troubles.
She found herself laughing, ignoring the pain from her side as he spat out a clod of soil and gave her the evil eye. "What, can't take what you give?" Charlie giggled.
The kid got to his feet, wiping dirt from his mouth with a glower. "You'll regret that," he promised.
"You've a little dirt on your chin still. Just there." She scratched at her own chin, and grinned maliciously. He didn't really have dirt on his chin, but it was damn funny to watch him scrub it anyway.
Upon realizing she'd played him, he reddened and neared her, fisting his hands. Charlie tensed, and they began circling each other, eyes sizing the other up. Abruptly, he pivoted on his heel, fist flying and aiming for her stomach. She managed to push it to the side, but missed the other fist heading straight for her face.
He landed right on her cheekbone, and she felt something crack as it connected. Pain exploded over her face, and her skull felt funny as she staggered back, hand already hovering over the new injury. "Fuck!" she cursed, hair hiding her face as she tried to push back the tears that had automatically begun to gather in her eyes.
He'd hit way too hard, she knew dimly; nobody was supposed to get broken bones from a sparring match. Or at least, not the kid version. Taro seemed to know he's messed up as her hand came away, the skin underneath already swelling with blood.
The fighting and jeering that had been coming from the other kids stopped abruptly at her yelled expletive, and all eyes were on them as she straightened, giving Taro the coldest glare she could manage. She said nothing, worried that if she did her voice would break because shit, that really hurt. She'd never broken a bone before.
Kuboyashi approached the duo with a hard face. "What happened?" he demanded, looking at Taro like he'd look at gum on his shoe.
"W-we were fighting a-and-" Taro tried, already sweating and nervous. No doubt he'd get in a ton of trouble, Charlie thought. Kuboyashi wasn't one to pull punches, she could tell, and from the stony look on his face, he was already thinking up ways he could legally torture the kid for going too far.
"It's fine," she busted out, still glaring at Taro, and went back to cupping her face. It hurt to talk, though she was pleased that she hadn't stumbled through her words. "We both went too far. I think I antagonized him too much, anyway."
Kuboyashi stared at her a moment before looking back at Taro. "Well, regardless, Taro-kun, you know this is only training. Both of you, make the seal of reconciliation. Taro-kun, you will take her to the nurse and explain exactly what you just did," he ordered quickly. His dark eyes focused on the rest of the kids, still watching the procession. "The rest of you, back to work."
She stared the kid in the eye as they made the seal. He still looked nervous as all hell, but surprise shone in his too-wide eyes. Well, she'd done her best to absolve him of some punishment. Whatever happened next, well, happened.
Taro was quiet as he led her to the infirmary, sneaking glances at her every few seconds until, halfway down a random hallway, she growled, "Quit staring at me guiltily. If you feel sorry, just say it and get it over with." Perhaps she was a bit impatient in her pain. Could you blame her?
The boy turned red again, shoulders rising. "I-I'm sorry, Charlie-chan. I got carried away," he mumbled, looking away shamefully.
The redhead sighed. "We both did. I apologize for egging you on. Next time, we'll both know better."
The rest of the walk was spent in silence, though thankfully, he didn't look at her again until they came to a stop in front of some random door. It wasn't even marked. He knocked thrice on the closed door, and waited.
"Come in!" came a cheerful voice. Taro held the door for her nicely as Charlie walked in, grimacing at the smell of antiseptic. Indeed, this was definitely a nurse's quarters. There were a few empty bunks, many jars of cotton swabs, towelettes, clean and packaged syringes, and alcohol pads lined the walls. Behind a small desk was a small, but plump older woman in a medic uniform, and she gave her a concerned look as she stood from her chair.
"What happened?" she asked, and Charlie lowered her hand as she allowed the woman to look over the injury. Her fingers glided over the broken part, and Charlie held back a gasp of pain as she jerked away. The woman tsked.
"I hit her too hard," Taro confessed, staring at his shoes.
The nurse glared at him. "You children always get so carried away. You go to your sensei and tell him that she's fractured her cheekbone and she won't be coming back to class today. When your class is done, you can come right back here with her homework. You understand?"
Taro nodded and ran out like a scared little mouse. Despite herself, Charlie chuckled.
"He was so confident before, too," the redhead mumbled. The nurse raised her eyebrows as she led her to an examination table. Charlie climbed on, and let her feet dangle as the woman bustled about the room looking for something.
"You don't seem too bent out of shape," the woman noted, plucking an alcohol pad out of one of the jars and an empty syringe out of another. "You must be in a lot of pain," she added, sparing her a concerned glance.
"Mistakes happen. I'm sure he's going to be feeling more pain than I am when Kuboyashi-sensei's through with him." Though it was worth mentioning that if she were any regular ten year old, she would probably be crying her eyes out. The humiliation she'd feel afterwards was enough to keep that at bay.
"Oh, so you're in Jin-kun's class? I don't think I've seen you around before," the woman said. She pulled a bottle of something out of the desk drawer, and stuck the needle into it, drawing whatever liquid was inside, out. Odd; Kuboyashi didn't seem like he'd take a '-kun' from anyone.
"I'm new to the village. Shimizu Charlie," the girl explained. "Today was my first day."
The nurse barked a laugh. "My name is Ishikawa Kaya, and you'll probably be seeing more of me. That is one way to spend your first day, huh?" Charlie laughed with her. She hoped it wasn't an omen for what was to come.
"Nice to meet you." Charlie shifted uneasily as the woman neared her with the needle. She hated those.
Ishikawa gave her an apologetic smile. "I'll have to set the bone first before I heal you, this is some localized numbing medicine so you won't feel as much. Okay?"
Charlie gave what she hope was a reassuring smile, though it turned into a grimace as she wiped down the area with the alcohol pad and stuck her with little preamble. Thankfully, the needle didn't hurt as much as Taro's punch did. Which reminded her... 'You probably feel pretty bad right about now, huh?' she thought, throwing in a rather lighthearted jab at her companion.
Minato seemed to be laughing at her, which made her eyes squint. "While I'm sorry you got hurt, it was a lesson, wasn't it?"
'I learned not to underestimate ten-year-olds,' she thought in annoyance. Damn it, she thought he'd feel guilty for not helping her. Was he one of those 'it's for your own good' types? She hated that type.
"No, Charlie-chan. You learned that you're outclassed against these kids, and because of your weakness, you got hurt. What does that say to you?"
'That you're mean and don't care about my feelings.'
She could feel his rolling eyes. "No, that you need to work harder than anyone else to catch up. Otherwise, you'll just get bopped in the face again the next time you have to spar." Okay, so what if he was right? She didn't need to break her face to figure that one out. "I stand by what I did. You have to learn what you're up against, even when it's another child. We're going to be starting training as soon as the nurse releases you, and hopefully, you'll take it more seriously than you did this morning."
Well, imagine that. She was being admonished, even after she'd been socked in the face. If she was a dog, her tail would be between her legs.
"Are you feeling the effects yet?" Ishikawa asked, coming back to her side after she'd disposed of the syringe. There was a small grin on her face, which Charlie didn't quite understand.
"Na I fe fi'-" Charlie started, but her expression went blank. Suddenly, she couldn't feel the left side of her face. Trippy. She gave the nurse a bug-eyed look.
Ishikawa was laughing. "Haha, that never gets old. Anyway. I'll start now. You'll probably feel a lot of pressure, but try not to move, okay?"
With little adieu, she grabbed one side of Charlie's skull with one hand, and the other went to the injured cheekbone. There was a sick grinding sound as the woman pushed with all her might and the two ridges of the bone came together again.
It still hurt, but it felt more like her head was getting squished under a press. She couldn't help the small groan that left her lips as Ishikawa pulled back- her face felt funny again. "Okay, now I'm going to clear up the damage with chakra. This will feel really tingly, but again, don't move, okay?"
Her hand glowed green as she held it over Charlie's cheek. She was right; her chakra felt like pins and needles as it entered her skin, flowing up through her whole face. She couldn't feel the work it did, the buzzing feeling covered it all, but it must've taken a while. By the time the healing session was done, Ishikawa was covered in sweat, and the girl's shoulders and neck ached from holding still for so long. It must've been at least a half hour.
"Alright, you should mostly be good to go. Here's an ice pack; you'll probably be in a bit of pain once the medicine wears off," the nurse said, handing her an icepack and giving her a pat on the shoulder. "Now, you just rest in one of those bunks, I'm sure you've got a headache now."
It was true; she had. Her skull had finally had enough of being rearranged for the day and was now pounding its dissatisfaction into her brain. Bobbing her head wearily, Charlie moved to the indicated bunk that was (thankfully) away from any windows. She laid the icepack on her cheek and closed her eyes, more than ready for a nap.
What a school she'd joined.
.
.
ALC. ALC. ALC.
.
.
She was being shaken.
Charlie's eyes blinked open, glaring at whoever had had the gall to wake her. "What?" she grunted, raising her hands to rub at her eyes. Her head was still pounding; it couldn't have been more than an hour that she'd been asleep.
"It's Taro," Taro said sheepishly. "School's out. I came to give you the homework."
She shuffled up until the blanket pooled around her waist, and took the papers that he held in his hand. Some of it she had missed, but hopefully Naruto had been paying enough attention to help her out.
"Thanks," she said, and swung her feet out.
"Y-you're welcome," Taro replied, stepping back to give her a fair amount of space as she stood. He was still nervous about earlier, she could tell.
She quirked her mouth to the side as she looked at him. "Seriously dude. I'm fine. I hope Kuboyashi-sensei isn't making you hurt too badly."
Taro glanced away. "Nothing too horrible. He-"
Naruto interrupted in his usual way. By charging in and all but bowling her over.
Charlie's eyebrow twitched as she righted herself, giving the blond a good bonk on the back of the head as he looked her over. "Hey, Charlie-chan, are you alright?!" he asked, and then, seeing Taro, gave him a mean glare. "You're lucky Kuboyashi-sensei only gave you a few detentions! If it was me, I'd-"
Taro squeaked and beat a hasty retreat, not wanting to stay around to hear what Naruto would do. Charlie found herself laughing. "Naru-chan, I'm fine. Thanks for worrying about me. Ishikawa-san fixed me right up."
Ishikawa, as if she'd been called, approached the two of them as well. "Now, here's a fresh ice pack. You keep that injury on ice until tomorrow morning, but beyond that, you should be good to go, okay?"
Charlie took it, and gave her a warm smile. "Thanks for all your help. I'll be seeing you around, Ishikawa-san!" The redhead locked elbows with her friend as they started to depart.
"You'd better hope not!" Ishikawa called after them as the door closed.
"Do you want to go get ramen, if you're feeling better?" Naruto asked, as soon as they were out of the building. It was only four o' clock, but the light lunch had started to wear on her, and that Ichiraku's place sure was good yesterday...
"Remember what we planned?" Minato piped up, and she almost groaned aloud.
Pursing her lips, she grabbed Naruto by the hand to stop him. "As much as I would love that, I'm feeling rather shamed that my spar went so badly, so I'm probably going to skip to train. However..." She dug around in her pockets for a minute, before coming up with enough coins to fit the bill. She curled them into one of his hands. "Get me something you think I'd like, and bring it home once you're done. I'll come over once I'm finished, too. 'Kay?"
He gave her a close-eyed smile. "Okay!" And off he dashed.
Charlie sighed, already feeling her stomach start to rumble. 'This better be good, Minato.'
Her companion led her to empty training grounds on the far side of the village. It wasn't an overly large area, about half a football field, but it was spotted with a fair amount of trees, and there was a stream that cut through the last quadrant of it. "This is where I used to train. Not many come out this far," Minato explained. There was a wistful tone in his voice, and she remembered again how lonely he must've been cooped up in there for all that time.
She wondered absently, if she ever had the chance to go home, if she could stand to take it from him. And then, of course, clamped down on that thought with an iron fist, hoping Minato hadn't been tuned in enough to catch a glimpse of it. That kind of question, the gloomy kind where no one's fully happy regardless of the answer, was one she didn't want to face. Was one she probably would not face at all, until it was too late to do any kind of thinking on the matter.
"Alright, what's first?" she wondered aloud, clapping her hands together. The sudden tone of the situation had taken an uncomfortable twist, though perhaps it was all in her head. A moment ago, she was determined to do whatever Minato told her to to get strong. Now, all she wanted was to hide from her problems and never come out. Perhaps she needed to stop thinking so much.
Thankfully, Minato didn't seem to catch the same feelings as she had, because his voice was bright and chipper as he said, "Let's start with stretches. Arms, legs, shoulders, ankles, wrists."
She was reminded absurdly of P.E. class as she stretched her arms high over her head, one after the other. Not that she'd ever participated after about middle school- she'd skip out to go to the library. It was a black mark on her otherwise stellar high school resume, and now, she kind of regretted it.
Once she felt limber enough to continue, Minato had her running laps. As in, many laps. As in, as many laps as she could do, until she fell on her face. 'Why?' she demanded, already feeling the sweat drip down her back after the fifth go around the training grounds. Her legs had begun to burn a bit. Lactic acidosis from inhaling so much oxygen, her brain supplied. Thanks, brain.
"Because when you face an opponent, you never know what your condition will be. You must be able to fight through your exhaustion. Plus, your stamina is abysmal. Keep going!"
Abysmal- she was going to box him when she saw him next.
So she ran, and ran, until black spots swarmed her vision and she felt like it was all she could do not to throw up. 'How's that, eh?'
"You could've done better." She gaped. "Alright, now that you're properly exhausted. Do as many push-ups as you can, and only start counting when they start to hurt."
Charlie's arms started to wobble on the third go. 'Minato, they ALL hurt!'
He was laughing at her and her misery. "Okay, start counting when you feel like you're about to pass out!" About to what-
There was no other possible way to say this, but Minato... was a tyrant. She did as many pushups as she could- as it turned out, she could do six while on the verge of blacking out- and then was given a five minute break to drink from the stream. It was clean water, thankfully, not too murky that she wouldn't drink from it. But then she was doing crunches, to the point where she had to pause after every few to let the muscles stop cramping. And then she was doing sprints this time, from the chainlink fence to the first tree. And then she got a drink. And then she was doing pullups from the low branches of a sturdy looking oak. And then, absurdly, he was having her try front rolls ("You'll need to be comfortable with them later on," he'd explained, and she hadn't questioned him).
Rinse, wash, repeat.
Two hours later, Charlie lied face down on the grass, not giving half a crap about all the bugs and bacteria she was probably lying on (though, being a germaphobe, she usually would be). Her hand was the only thing that moved, and it twitched once in a while as if to remind everyone outside of her that somehow, she was still kicking.
"I feel like I'm about to puke," she said outloud as her stomach swirled sickeningly.
"You shouldn't have trained on an empty stomach," Minato replied smartly. He was always so smart.
'What do you mean? YOU made me train!'
"Well, next time, you'll be better prepared, won't you?" She growled at nothing. "This is only a tiny portion of what I used to do when I was your age. I'm going easy on you, believe it or not. Now, pick yourself up and go home. It's almost seven by now, I'm sure my son is waiting for you."
Charlie's entire body felt too weak to move, so she lied there some more until she felt ready to get to her leaden feet and go home. Despite the fact that she had obviously overworked herself, there also came a sense of accomplishment. Minato couldn't force her to do anything, she knew; she had stayed there, and listened to him, wholly of her own willpower. That was something to be proud of.
So, as her skin pebbled in the chilly evening air, and as the wind whipped her hair into her face, she fashioned a small grin on her face.
Progress. She liked the feeling.
A tall, built figure watched from the roof of a nearby shop as the small girl stood from her prone position and limped home. The man straightened, rolling his shoulders- he'd sat out for quite a while, after all.
Then, his form disappeared in a puff, with the only memory of his being there carried on the leaves he left in his wake.
He would be interested. Very interested.
The Magus Killer: Thank you for your review! You make good points. I do agree it's little strange to pair a mentally grown person with kids, though of course I don't intend to have her involved with anyone until everyone is of legal age lol! Our lil Obito does deserve a little shine in his life, provided he atones for his actions first. He was perverted by Madara and it's a shame how his story ended in canon. As for the polling though, I think I may hold off on that idea simply because I can't figure in every potential match people may want to see. But we'll see, I may end up needing one haha. Thanks again for your advice!
SkullMuffinGirl: Thanks for your ideas, that's actually a really interesting take on it. We'll see how the story progresses on, I've set it up to be a rather long one I think so there'll be plenty of time to explore. I've already come up with a bit to explain how Mina and Charlie are connected in the coming chapters, though much is still yet to be unveiled. I like their interactions too, by the way; both blonds are really funny characters lmao!
Jazzmeene: I agree wholeheartedly. Though I've set her up to be a predominantly relatable, funny, and sassy character, I think she has great potential to be ruthless and coldblooded too. Thank you for your review and insight, I really appreciate it!