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She was nervous. Not that she would-or could- say that out loud where Kinoto could hear her. He wasn't holding her hand this time, and hadn't in quite awhile, now that she could walk and run without thinking about it. But this time his distance from her was obvious in the way he held his arms behind his back and how he wouldn't remove his mask. He was leading her through hallways of the headquarters that she'd never seen before outside of her little room. And at the end of these hallways was another door that looked all the rest. He put his hand on it, and slowly slid it open.
Inside there were nine children and a single man standing at the front who all turned and looked at her. She stood stiffly, trying to keep her face blank. Most of the children looked as if they were at least a few years older than her, they were all at the least five or six. None of them quite had expressions that could be described as 'curious' as their faces were just as blank as hers tried to be. But they at least seemed to recognize that what was happening was out of the norm.
"Come in," the man at the front said. She took a few steps forward, and looked up at Kinoto who gestured with his chin towards the front of the room. She went up and stood in front of the chalkboard. The instructor stood beside her, arms tucked behind his back. "This is the newest member of our organization." Then he looked to her, waiting. She already knew that she was supposed to bow when she met new people, Kinoto taught her, so she did.
"Sit there." He pointed her towards the back, where another girl was sitting. She was blond and had blue eyes. She seemed very out of place compared with the rest of the class who were all mostly colored in muted greens, browns, and blacks. She was also trying to calm her twitching hands.
When she sat down, the new girl waved at her nervously. The action caught her so off guard that she stopped and blinked, before turning towards the teacher who had taken back his position at the front of the room. She folded her hands in front of each other on her desk, lacing her fingers together. She looked over towards the door, but Kinoto was already gone.
"Class, today we will be learning about forming Chakra," the teacher said. "All of us possess a chakra nature. Fire, Earth, Water, Air, or Lightening. However, there are some strong shinobi who are able to form their Chakra into other elements. So, I will be handing out this paper," he held up a small square of paper. "You will channel your Chakra into this paper so we can determine your natures." He placed the stacks of paper on the desks of the children sitting in front, who dutifully handed them back to the second row.
The teacher held his own paper in his hand and it burst into flame and turned to ash. No one in the class room except for the blond girl even reacted. She squeaked and covered her mouth with bother her hands. The teacher cast the blond girl a dark look and she lowered her head, looking down at her hands that were still shaking.
She held her own piece of paper. Kinoto had never taught her how to channel Chakra. She guessed that this was one of those 'sink or swim' things he was always talking about. It actually wasn't that hard. She could more or less feel that the paper was trying to soak up her Chakra like a sponge. She just closed her eyes and let it. It was strange, feeling something in your body being leached out of you. Something that had once always been a part of you. But it didn't hurt, so she decided that meant nothing was wrong. It took a few seconds longer than the other children, but her paper eventually reacted, turning soggy in her hands. There was one other child in the class who had a water type Chakra.
Their teacher went around the room, making a little note on a clip board, looking over each student's work. When he got to her, he looked at it with a critical eye before turning to stare at her face. When he was finished, he stepped back up to the front of the room and put the clipboard into a drawer. He resumed his position of hands behind his back. "Stand, one at a time, and list your number in line. That will be your official code name until further notice." And she was seventh in line, so when there was a piece of paper laid down in front of her, she signed it Shichi.
"In front of you is a test of twenty-five questions about the technicalities of shinobi life. You have twenty minutes. Begin."
She flipped over her test and looked down, realizing that it was multiple choice, but that she had no idea what the answers were. Or what they even could be. She looked blankly at her page, trying not to give away the fact that she knew nothing. She looked through them, there just had to be some kind of code. But no. Just simple questions about the village. Kinoto hadn't taught her about any of that. At all. So she answered two a minute, and yet still wound up being the last one to finish. The teacher looked over her paper and then laid it down on the desk.
"We will be moving into the sparring room," the teacher said. "Your sparring partner will be determined by the scores of your tests. The one with the highest score will be paired with the lowest score. So on and so forth."
The class stood as one, and bowed in practiced movement. She tried to keep pace with her new classmates, but still managed to be out of beat. She lined up with them, with the assistance of the blond girl, and followed two by two out the door towards the sparring room. It was just a large circular room across the hall.
The teacher followed behind them a few minutes latter. He wasted no time, looking down at his list. "Ni and Shi, Ichi and Shichi, San and Go, Rokuu and Juu, Hachi and Kyuu. Pair off and begin your spar."
Shichi looked at Ichi, a young boy who looked like he could be her brother. He had the same paper white skin and dark inky black hair. But his eyes were the same black as his hair. He was about seven years old, and his pudgy face would have been cute if it wasn't for the ice cold look he gave her.
The teacher put a whistle up to his lips and blew loudly, raising his left arm. Ichi rushed at her and punched her hard in the stomach. Shichi gasped, stumbling backwards. Ichi didn't let up, following up with a punch to the shoulder, then swept her legs out from under her and knocking her down to the ground.
The teacher didn't stop the fight, he didn't even seem to register that she was on her back. Ichi looked to the instructor, but when no orders were issued, he continued to attack her. She flung her legs up, managing to catch him in the chin, making him stumble backwards. Shichi jumped back to her feet, not wanting Ichi to get the upper hand again. This suddenly felt less like a spar and more like a fight for her life. And while Ichi hit hard, he didn't hit nearly as hard as Kinoto could.
Shichi rushed at Ichi, and jabbed him in the solar plexus, just like Kinoto had taught her. He sucked in a breath, eyes momentarily widening when he found himself struggling to breathe. She took advantage and spun around, kicking him in the chin. He flipped backward, using his hand to launch himself into the air. Shichi couldn't reach him, so she ran to the side to avoid the powerful kick he was aiming at the top of her head.
He grabbed her ankle when she went for another kick to the stomach, and swung her off balance. She had enough time to throw he arms over her head, before he started to rain punches down upon her. She thought she felt the bone in her forearm crack. Eventually the whistle blew and Ichi removed himself immediately, standing in line with the others.
"Shichi!" The instructor yelled from the front of the room. "Stand with the others!" He ordered. Shichi put her good arm down on the ground, and slowly pushed herself up, on trembling legs. She fell back in line, holding her arm. "Ni, take her to the infirmary. Then return to the classroom."
"Yes, sensei," one of the older girls said. She didn't give Shichi any indications to follow her, and just walked towards he door, so Shichi just followed, running after her quickly. Before she left, she noticed that the instructor hadn't even congratulated the children who had won their spars.
The usual doctor was out, and in his place was a thirteen year old boy, with glasses, and light gray hair. When she'd come in, the first thing he'd had her do was sit up on the table, and he ran his green hands around her body, hovering over her skin. "My arm," she said, when he didn't seem to be focusing on anything in particular.
"I am aware," he said, continuing his examination. He opened a little notebook and quickly wrote something down. "Now, hold out your injury."
"What did you do?" She asked.
He hesitated for a moment, and she saw it flash behind his eyes, before he pulled his hand back and slapped her across the face. He looked between her and his hand, before tucking it behind his back. "It is not your place to question a superior," he said, letting a hard edge enter his voice. His voice still cracked.
"Yes, of course," she said ducking her head. "Please forgive me."
He cleared his throat and nodded. "Yes...well...I suppose this once I will. You may call me Kabuto-senpai."
"Are-" she cut herself off before she could bring herself to ask her question. "Yes Kabuto-senpai." When she looked back up at the young doctor, he seemed pleased. He wasn't very good at hiding his emotions. Not like the others were. Not like she was. Maybe he was like her father, and wasn't able to follow the way of Root. Maybe Kabuto-senpai would be a traitor one day, like her father.
He lowered his hands onto her arm, and she could feel the healing energy working into her skin, then into her muscles and fat, then finally into the broken bone. It slowly started to grow back into the proper position, leaving her feeling good as new. She looked down at her arm, careful to keep her face blank.
"Medical Ninjutsu," Kabuto-senpai said when he caught her looking. "Maybe if you have good enough chakra control, you could learn how to do that too."
She wondered if the reverse was true. Could she use medical ninjutsu to touch someone's arm and snap their bone in half. Maybe cause it to grow so quickly, there wasn't enough room inside the arm. Bursting through all those other layers of skin and muscles and fat. She said nothing to the other boy as she hopped down from the exam table.
"I need to go back to the classroom," she said.
"Alright then!" He gave her another smile and a jaunty little wave as she went.
The classroom was already empty by the time she got back. The instructor was leaning against the desk in the front with a stack of books beside him. When he saw her enter, he didn't react. "We meet here every other day. We meet in the sparring room everyday. I expect you to train on your own in your free time. When you are not training you will be reading these books." He laid his hand on top of them. "You will have these texts memorized in one month's time."
"Will that help me be a tool for Danzo-sama?" She asked. "To ensure the future of the village?"
"Yes," he answered shortly. "You are dismissed."