My parents in my last life had a motto of sorts. It's better to mess something up seven times all on your own then pay to fix it once. This motto was very much true in the way we had lived. Very self sufficient.

Whenever something in the house would break, it would be all hands on deck to try and fix it, install it, or whatever else before stubbornly hiring someone to do so for you. More than once this got us in trouble, like the fact that for several years you could not have a bath without floors of the bathroom flooding despite our best efforts to better waterproof the tub… the only reason that even changes was because we moved to a new house leaving the leaky bath as someone else's problem.

Of course there were limits. None of us dared touch the car. That… well we're weren't THAT crazy, but anything else from washing machines, to stoves, to doors and cabinets were all viable options for our fix it jobs, jobs that sometimes succeeded and sometimes did not. I didn't consider myself particularly handy really, I just followed my family's lead more often then not, but by noon after a day of staring at the broken clock knowing we didn't have a chance in hell at returning the stupid thing… well my fix it fever reached a boiling point, I mean what's the harm?

"What are you doing, googly-eyes?" Ami asked as I grabbed a butter knife using the flare dull edge to open the screws on the back of the alarm clock.

"I'm going to see if I can fix it." I told her and she huffed looking unconvinced. As the back opened or rather fell of the rest of the clock. I didn't feel that confident either if I was being honest. A few gears fell out on the table as the back came out and the other gears looked like a giant old metal puzzle. I gulped.

"Ya, and people can walk on water." Ami told me with her arms crossed a scowl on her face and her nose wrinkled. I paused and looked at her.

"Ninja CAN do that Ami." I told her in a matter of fact tone and suddenly her face snapped to mine eyes wide in wonder.

"You think they'll teach us that at the Academy?" She asked hopefully and I tilted my head.

"Don't think so, it's an advance control exercise…" I told her my eyes now focusing back to the clock and it's endless gears, already confused by them as I took a few out and grabbed a rag. Maybe they were jammed and needed to be cleaned?

"Oh…" she said looking defeated. It was honestly kind of cute the way she was sulking. Though to be fair, I wasn't sure if I would be waiting until it was officially taught, I remember Kanpu talking about how ninja could walk on water when I was little, and I had seen them walk on trees when Urushi, Izumi and the rest of the team brought us to the village. I have an excuse for HOW I know about the two techniques. When eventually I unlock my chakra, control exercises seemed like the first thing to do. Still I wouldn't be too cocky about it, for all I knew my control might be the absolute worst in history.

I throughly about this as Ami watched me piece by piece take apart the clock as I silently prayed to god, or rather kami that I would remember where to put the pieces once this was finished.

"Hmm… I said thoughtfully as I looked up seeing a few notifications in my line of sight. Notifications are weird, they are there but also not there. If I didn't want to see them I can see through them as though they were made of coloured glass. They don't obscure my vision… yet at the same time they were unmistakably there.

Maintenance Proficiency Level has risen X2

I blinked at the notification pulling the skill up mentally to take a better look.

Maintenance Proficiency Level 29

Ability to maintain, clean, and fix up items and/or possessions effectively. Speed and success improves per level. Increase in quality of the item 0.25% per level increase in speed of action 0.5% per level once action is familiar. Current ability, quality increase 7.25%, speed increase 14.5%

That's… unexpected. To maintain, clean, and FIX. As in this skill could help me eventually fix items… and boosts the quality of the items so… I might actually stand a chance of fixing this stupid clock if I spend long enough on it, and well have all the gears to begin with.

"I'm headed out. Maybe by the time I'm back you'll see it's useless." Ami said dismissively getting dressed. I felt much more at ease with Ami now. It was strange and nice at the same time. I paused for a moment to track her chakra signature not getting any notification for it but was still satisfied at the growing ease in which I could do it. Heck I didn't even need to FULLY meditate to succeed.

With a happy smile I continued to my work, frustrated as I grabbed make shift tools in the form of the small butter knife, a fork (yes they have those they just don't use them much) and a chopstick, plus the rag of course. Looking at each piece as a part of a whole I tried to think of what it is the clocks gears actually did to begin with. They moved each other to move the hands of the clock. The alarm worked because when the hour hands gears aligned with the set time to released a secondary set of gears that moved little hammers in the bell creating the ringing sound. It was really old fashion, but then again this world was really weird when it came to technology.

At the orphanage there was NO electricity more than a few battery operated devices like the little clock in front of me. Growing up there if not for the fact I had come from a far more technologically advanced world in my past life I would be overwhelmed. I wonder… how were Masaki and Kousei adjusting? Did they know how to work a stove or turn on a light switch? Did they know how to cook at all or were they so desperately hungry with no one to help them? It made my emotions swirl as I held the deep calm back. I… I just… I hadn't thought of them since the first day I had moved into the apartment which though less than a week ago, or was it more? Whatever the time it had been such a small amount of time and yet it felt so great. My skill with my dedicated attention were rapidly expanding and well they had slipped my mind…

Two days until the academy starts… I'd see them then right? Or would they be put in an older grade because of their ages. That hardly seemed fair to them but who said ninja were fair? Or this world in general?

A small piece of something clogged one of the gears and I happily dislodged it. The hour hand's axis seemed off not fully connected. I pulled and pushed from both outside and in before it snapped into place only bending the hour hand a little in my effort.

I reassembled the clock and put it back together, very very proud of my accomplishment. It would work I was 65% sure of it. 65% may not seem like a lot but it's more than a coin flip right?

Maintenance proficiency Level has risen X3

I smiled not minding the fact that the little alarm clock had taken my attention the whole day as I gorged on left overs having failed to eat.

I then moved onto doing some light physical exercise, my run, and meditating proud to show off my accomplishment to Ami, you would think I had some something momentous still the little clock filled me with pride.

Running Proficiency Level has risen X1

Meditation Proficiency Level has risen X1

It was a nice day… with tomorrow my last day until the academy starts I wonder what I should do?