It had been two days since cleaning the apartment, there are now five days left until the start of the academy. The past few days have been passed in bitter sweet harmony between Ami and I. We don't talk much but after the spar/cat fight we don't actively ignore each other either, we have even exchanged more than a few words while eating a meal. I call it improvement and complete annoyance that this is SiGNIFICANT improvement.

The first day we were rained in. Not that big a problem really, we each own one semi water proof jacket even if we lack umbrellas, still we chose to stay home instead of dealing with the rain that drummed outside the window.

Ami surprised me with a request to play the flute some more, which I gladly agreed to and spent over half the day going through basic songs I remember and even free styling things a little bit.

Flute Profiency level has risen X4

I didn't even care about that because this was the first time I saw Ami smile with absolutely no edge to it.

"I always loved festivals for their music…" She shared with me and so my own smile widened as she seemed lost in thought. Their wasn't much to do at home, other than add get a pack of card to the grocery list. I thought now might be a good time to talk to Ami about pooling our money for groceries and cleaning supplies but after the smile she seemed to clam up again so with a heavy sigh I spent the rest of the day doing the only thing I could, meditating.

Meditation Proficiency Level has risen X2

It was getting easier, even… relaxing meditating and gave me a feeling of control over my own mind including the deep calm within me. I would continue to meditate at the very least before bed that's for sure.

The following day when I got up Ami was gone. She had eaten some left overs, and I was glad she left enough for me as well and had just left. With that in mind I decided to spend the rest of the day exploring around and went through some of the more civilian markets taking note of the prices for different items and who sold things at the lowest prices. I also spent that time starting my training by running until my stamina completely depleted and meditating to regain it.

Running Proficiency Level has risen X3

Meditation Proficiency Level has risen X1

You have gained 1 AGI X2

You have gained 1 VIT X1

Which then in turn increased my overall stamina by 20 points. That was a good feeling and was certainly good incentive to continue training.

Once I made my way back 'home', it was not quite dark yet so I decided to check out the books at the store across from us. I was there maybe 10 minutes before the owner of said store, a man with dark green eyes and black hair, none so kindly told me leave yelling about how he is a store not a 'library'. I may have grumbled some not so nice things back. Though it wasn't in the 'standard dialect' turns out the orphanage was really good at keeping profanity away from our ears so I actually didn't know HOW to swear. So I muttered curses in English, I hadn't spoken ANY English in five and a half years so needless to say it felt a little odd given how different the two languages sounded. Yet also good, no one knew English right? So it was kind of my own secret code.

Still I could have hugged said store owner because that had completely slipped my mind! The answer to my boredom and a way to keep learning. What better place to visit than the library?!

So that was today's mission. I didn't ask where Ami was headed as she ate quickly and rushed out the door. Though I may have spied on her a little from the window to ascertain the general direction she was going. I mean she was six years old, someone had to keep an eye on her right? Even if said someone was a five year old who is not really mentally five. I am sure crazier things have happened in this legally insane world.

Of course I didn't just use my eyes to keep track of her. I sat down as though I were going to meditate, after I centred myself though I didn't 'look' within myself like I usually would when meditating. Instead I 'looked' outside myself. To be honest with such high concentration it felt uncomfortable… sensing had always felt natural even though I could clearly remeber my pas life of not being a sensor, in this life I couldn't imagine not sensing without a slight shutter of fear. The same fear one has at the thought of being deaf or blind. It wasn't painful BEFORE, but I think I can better understand those who had lost a sense. When you never had it you couldn't imagine it, but when you had it you couldn't imagine life without it. My sensing wasn't pinpoint accuracy… yet… but it was like… Christmas. I know that's a strange metaphor but it is the best I could think of.

I always loved Christmas time. Time off from school was always a plus, spending time with my family, big delicious dinners and seeing the looks on others faces as you gave homemade gifts… it was always great in my opinion. However pushing all that aside the decorations always grabbed my attention and imagination even when I was really small. I would squint my eyes together so that the lights would grow bigger and brighter mingling. On any highway or busy road I would do the same and be reminded of that time of year, that kind of special feeling. The lights on the trees, on the houses… it made everything better.

With sensing it was like that. It was like lights were everywhere. Yet they weren't just lights. They had temperature, texture, and so much more. The chakra I could feel, it surrounded me in a warm blanket of that same feeling I would get looking at Christmas decorations. It was always just there…

Little by little my range grew it was like layer upon layer new strings of lights… of bright energies were being hung. I could always tell if their were people around me and vaguely where they were. I could tell if they had a lot or a little of chakra in their body, and that time in the Akimichi compound I was able to discern an affinity. A very obvious one but still… it was improvement.

Now though I was trying not just to ideally feel around me, but keep track of one specific light, one specific signature among a sea of signatures. I kept my eyes closed feeling Ami there. Her light had become increasingly farmiliar, as small and contained as it was. I felt through what was like dark smoke, the nothingness between the lights keeping my attention on Ami as she moved and I lost track of her pulling myself back to my body with a deep gasp of air.

Sensing Proficiency Level has risen X2

I smiled at the notification but my concentration was lost and even if Ami was still in my range I wouldn't be able to find her. With a tired sigh I got to my feet, ate the last of my food and headed out with my backpack in the vague direction of the academy, away from the flanking compounds. The library would be near the academy and Hokage's tower I was absolutely sure.

I ran through the streets ducking and weaving letting my stamina drain out. I was going to be a ninja so I had to get faster and build up more endurance. Besides it was a bit of a thrill moving quickly, and watching my stats increase was a bit addictive I had to say. I tried to keep observant as I went by keeping my eye out, scanning the buildings and people as I went ideally noting down stores and places to visit later. After a while and a few breaks to catch my breath, I could see the academy. The building's large white walls with red roof tiling around its round design. The gates and thick dark beige walls flanking it at all sides. Right now it was deserted the new school year yet to start but will start soon, the April day a promise to that. In my distracted state I narrowly avoid running into a pole. I'm not sure if sweat dropping is real here like it was in the anime, but if it was then I would have done so thinking of how much that would have hurt had I not responded as quickly as I did.

Finally, after running out of breath I pressed my back to the side of an alleyway. No sign of the library. Time for stage two. Ask direction from your friendly neighbourhood villager while keeping intact your young child persona. I flattened my hair on my head putting on a smile as I walked out of the alleyway. I was on a less busy street. It was still fairly commercial as I hadn't dodged into any neighbourhoods or clan compounds. However, at the same time said street had almost as many stores as mine did. The stores were larger with actual doors you had to enter and the people walking around did so at a placid pace enjoying the day and good weather.

I approached a woman who had a child in her arms. A small child resting squarely on her hip. She had dark oak coloured hair and brown eyes. She was pretty her hair kept back in a short ponytail as the child babbled on. The child is a boy I think, with the same hair colour though spikier, with big blue eyes basking in his mother's attention. He's about two years old probably, it was a cute sight. I chose to approach her for two reasons. One she was clearly a mother and therefore would be more indulgent of me, at least that was my hope. Two her chakra reserve was large and active indicating she is a or at least had been a shinobi at some point and so won't be as alarmed by my lack of guardian or intelligence. Again just a theory, but one I felt was very likely to be true. I approached her slowly.

"Excuse me?" I ask blinking up on her playing the cute kid card as far as it would take me. It was a fairly large advantage being cute, and I am a cute kid.

"Oh, yes? Are you alright?" She asks gently her eyes sharp as they looked me over, she was probably discerning many things about me based on my outfit, or she was judging my fashion sense, I wasn't sure which was the better option. To be honest even if I had choices when it came to clothes I had never been able to really put together good outfits like my mother could.

"Yes, I'm fine." I reassure her with a wide smile as the baby pouts cutely that someone has stole the his attention. "Do you know the way to the library?" I ask her and she pauses for a moment her eyes narrowing a fraction before she nods. If I wasn't looking for such responses I would have missed them entirely as she keeps smiling.

"It's just that way a little bit," she says pointing up the street, "at the base of the hokage monument. You shouldn't have trouble finding it if you go straight." She tells me in a very helpful tone, I nod to her thankful this worked out.

"Thank you." I say with a little bow once again, it is a good way to throw people off I have noticed. "Cute baby." I then say with a wave and she smiles at the compliment.

"Yes, Konohamaru is quite cute aren't you?" The woman then teased the child who blushes and giggles as she proceeds to tickle him completely enraptured in her child. I hope no one noticed my expression change as I ran off though. Konohamaru? As in the third Hokage's grandson and surrogate little brother of Naruto?

I try to push those thoughts aside as I arrive at the library. Now that I knew the vague direction, it was in fact easy to find. The building from the looks of it had two parts, the part that was constructed, and the part that was carved. Like the academy it is a white building with a red roof, however unlike the academy it seemed to extend into the very mountain. The doors were large, made of some kind of dark wood. As I approach I pause feeling something off about the walls and doors. I inch closer hoping not to be too inconspicuous but fairly certain I am failing in that regard.

The doors are written on in tiny dark ink that is almost unnoticeable unless you are close and contain minicule amounts of chakra. I don't need to think long before realizing what it is. Seals… lots and lots of seals. My hands trace the design for a moment. I am hopelessly trying to decipher them but they are far to foreign for me to figure out get they are cool all the same. Maybe in the future if I study seals a bit… but then again seals are supposed to be really difficult and I can't study everything… with a sigh I leave the doors promising to look more later.

The library itself has no windows, it actually makes me a little nervous at the idea of being closed in. The library is filled with row upon row of books in wooden shelves, far more books than I have ever seen in my life and possibly my last life as well. Lights hang from the ceiling making the rooms well lit and I smile as I explore ignoring a few curious glances directed my way as I do so.

For the most part the library seems… normal. There are sections on everything from facts to fiction, to skills books to self help books all organized. A few weeks ago I would have been thrilled with such a remarkable collection but right now I am a bit… agitated. The only subjects that are missing from what I can see are the ones I really want to learn about especially given my career choice. It may sound cliche or perhaps predictable but I want to learn about chakra and it's applications such as jutsu. I'm under no impression I am going to be immediately spewing jutsu like the shadow clone jutsu like Naruto probably could already, or Sasuke, but how am I suppose to improve without the knowledge on how to do so. Heck I haven't even unlocked my chakra yet!

"Excuse me… where do I find things on chakra control?" I ask a passerby, an older woman,l pushing a cart, not as old as Koharu but ceretinly not young either. Her hair is a darker shade of grey, indicating a once dark nature hair colour like brown or black, then again in this world it could be neither and could be a dark green or blue instead or even her natural hair pulpit could be grey like Kakashi. Though looking closer I could make out some dark brown among the grey, she doesn't even really look that old more like someone who was cursed to show their age earlier than most. Her eyes are a coal black colour and she makes and amused face at my question.

"Sorry, child, those would be in the ninja only section." She said ideally waving to a corner with an enclosed metal gate. I see a few people behind it all with leaf headbands and feel myself fume a little. Is this the seperation between shinobi/clan born chidlren and not? Surely their has to be something on chakra here!

"Is there anything on chakra? Even the very basics?" I ask a bit of desperation creeping into my voice.

"I'm afraid not. They do carry those at the academy." She says with a smile clearly trying to cheer me up.

"Ya…" I say with a heavy folding of my shoulders before I perk back up and like a girl possessed run through the halls of the library grabbing this book and that. Even if I don't have any books on well… anything ninja related, rather ironic for a NINJA village… at the same time though I can still get information on lots of other things, plants, animals, history, politics, cooking, cleaning, stories, and my oh so familiar biology books that will probably have the only mention of chakra in any technical sense. In the end I manage to balance seven books on my arms feeling the raised eyebrow stare of the librarian I was just talking to as I make my way to a table to begin to read.

My seven books include one biology book, one herbology book, one animal book, one cook book, one history book, one travel book, and finally one book that I couldn't resist with its farmiliar title the tales of a gustsy ninja. I start to devour the books and don't move until the sun is beginning to set and said librarian approaches me, while I am nose deep in the animal book talking about migration patterns of birds over fire country.

Reading proficiency level has rise X2

You have gained 1 INT X1

You have gained 1 ACU X1

New skill!

Tracking Proficiency Level 1

Ability to track animals and people through many environments by seeing patterns and disturbances around you. Skill increase per level, observational skill increase 1% per level. Current ability observational skill increase 101%

New skill!

Zoological knowledge Proficiency Level 1

Your overall rating for the knowledge of animals. Shows overall level of knowledge good to predict animal movement and patterns.

"I think you should be headed home, child." She speaks to me in a far more formal tone, probably due to the fact that I am currently reading books that children twice my age wouldn't want to touch.

"Oh… ya it's getting late isn't it?" I state though I look around without windows theres no way to know how much time has passed. "Can I check these out?" I ask her guests ring to the books.

"How old are you?" She asks and I knew a double question when I hear one. She isn't just asking for whatever reason she'll tell me after, she is gauging just how advanced I am. I decided long ago not to hide my intelligence, after all there were Naaras around so it wouldn't put that big a target on me.

"Five, almost six." I tell her honestly with a smile and her eyes widen just a fraction. I wonder what rank of shinobi she was/is.

"Well I'm afraid you can only check out three books until your ten… then it's a five book limit. Once you become an adult the limit is ten books." She then adds absentmindedly though of course 'adult' means something else entirely in this world. In my old world it could mean someone 18 and older, or a general concept that parents used to separate themselves from children. Here it might mean to some the same thing but in this case it means one thing. Once you become a shinobi. After all you can't send children to kill and be killed? No you send adults… even if those adults happen to be really young. Wasn't Kakashi five himself when he became a ninja?

"Alright… I'll check out these three." I tell her grabbing the cook book, the animal book, and the history book. I'll have to read tales of a gutsy ninja some other day.

"I just need a parents signature." She adds as we walk to a round desk in the middle of the library.

"Orphan." I state bluntly putting the books on the counter and she nods a sad look on her face all the while.

"I'll put the others aside for you. Just ask for Hazuki when you come next." She tells me in a straight forward manner and I nod putting the three books in my bag and wave goodbye as I head off home. Hopefully the cookbook will help me level up my cooking skill faster, it would certainly be a boon to eat tasty food for a change.