Prologue - Cloud Ninja Academy

I started the ninja academy, where I'd learn in an institutional setting for the next six years. The entry requirements stated: you had to love Kumogakure, wish to uphold its peace and prosperity, have the determination to endure hard training and be healthy in mind and body. With these cautions out of the way, just about anyone could enroll so long as they could afford tuition. With me and my classmates joining at six years old, we weren't pressured to work too hard. We were taught a basic curriculum of reading, writing, math, science, geography and history. These were foundations to build on in the years to come. The classrooms were spacious and sculpted from stone, painted black with gold. We weren't introduced to tactics or strategy, but we started learning the Shinobi Rules - there were a lot so we were only introduced to the important ones.

A shinobi must always put the mission first.

My favorite was: A shinobi must see the hidden meanings behind the hidden meanings. I didn't understand it one bit, but my child mind must've liked the way it sounded. We were introduced to common tools like shuriken, kunai and makibishi. We learnt about basic trap-setting.

My closest friend in preschool was Shien. I didn't accept her as my best friend until we started at the academy. There were a lot of us and like before I had no trouble making friends. Shien continued to be my best friend and we did our calligraphy next to each other, and played in the sandbox. Across the fields we could see older kids practicing their shuriken throws.

I first heard about chakra from my older sister instead of the senseis.

At home I'd been looking through Dad's stamps. He was a chūnin, and whenever he went on a mission to another town he'd always bring me back a stamp. He kept them all in a big book. Suppai walked in then.

"Look!" She took one of the stamps and stuck it on her forehead then made a funny sign with her hands. The stamp was dry and yet it wasn't falling off. "This is chakra!"

"Woah. How're you doing it?" I asked.

"Uncle Reikou is teaching me! All across your body are points where you can release chakra. This is the first step of chakra control!"

She was four years older than me, and clearly skilled. I tried sticking stamps onto my forehead and they'd just drop right off, every time. I got annoyed with it but Suppai wouldn't let me give up. She pretended to be exasperated, saying she'd have to teach me until I got it.

Suppai wasn't a good teacher - she lacked patience. She wasn't a very good older sister either: she was too rough when we played, disobedient to our parents and at times plain old mean. Grandma Kouga and Uncle Reikou were very involved in our training, and they were more forgiving of Suppai's behavior than our parents were, because she was talented. Suppai quickly learnt to climb trees and then she was always outside, jumping and leaping about. That made it easier to stay out of her way.

Amai meant sweet, and Suppai meant sour. Like our namesakes we were different. Suppai was praised by Grandma and Uncle for her skills. That was fine - I could enjoy attention from my parents, who were much more easygoing and light-hearted people.

After school when I wasn't coloring, or reading with Mom, or practicing writing, I would go play with the kids in the street. Through the Makijiku district into town there was a road with shops on both sides, and boys would kick a ball around. I had four cousins about my age who participated. I didn't like doing that, but a few kids would join me for tag or other adventures. Among them was Omoi, a boy who loved sweets, specifically hard candy, and was usually willing to share.

We were playing hide-and-seek. Shien, Omoi and me had climbed a tree to hide. We'd been sitting for a while and Omoi had handed out lollipops from his stash.

"Shien!" After catching sight of someone I tugged on her sleeve and pointed.

"No way. Is that Lord Killer B?" She peered over and we watched the man walking away, various villagers notably kept their distance.

I felt excitement in the pit of my stomach as I recalled the day he'd saved me and the two of us had flown over the mountain drop. Grandma Kouga's angry face flashed across my mind and I sagged.

"I'm not allowed to go near him… Grandma says he's dangerous," I moaned.

"My parents say the same," Omoi was in the branch above, kicking his legs.

"That's terrible," Shien said. Upon learning that word recently she'd been using it all the time, but I was in full agreement. "Killer B has saved the village, but everyone's still scared of him because he's got the Eight-Tails inside him."

"The what?" Nobody had cared to tell me about that.

"The Eight Tails," Omoi said. "It's a big, scary oxe-octopus monster."

"No way! You guys are lying!" I accused.

"It's not a lie!" Shien insisted, "years ago the Eight-Tails used to come out of the people it was stuck inside, all the time, and then it would attack the village. But ever since the Raikage put it inside his brother it doesn't come out anymore!"

"So he's got a monster inside him?" I asked. It did make my old hero seem more frightening, knowing that.

Omoi looked nervous now too - he was a real scaredycat.

"It's because of B that the village is safe now," Shien continued in her matter-of-fact way, "But nobody wants to be around him because they're scared."

That sounded lonely. I frowned in his direction, though by now B was long gone.

"Found you!" Omoi's mother approached us. We'd forgotten about staying hidden. "You should be running along to dinner, you three. It's late."

It was getting on in the afternoon even if the sun was still out. We climbed down the twisted trunk. Omoi then tried hiding away his lollipop but she saw: "That better not be more sweets! Go on, you three. Time to go home to your parents."