We eventually parted paths with InoShikaCho as they went to get dinner at an Akimichi place. They'd invited us, and as tempted as I was to go with them, we'd promised grandpa Teuchi we'd be at Ichiraku by seven. We barely made it in time. But the look of pride on his face as we told him about our first day and getting our supplies made every hard part of our day worth it.
I sealed my bokken into the scroll with Ryūjin as soon as we made it to the ramen stand. Yugao and Hayate soon joined us for dinner. I double checked to make sure my scroll was in a secure spot before eating my ramen quickly with my blue backpack in my lap. After waving goodbye to Teuchi and walking back to the apartment with Yugao and Hayate, I was ready to pass out.
But there was a pile of wrapped presents on the dining room table. Naruto immediately runs to the table, gently placing his backpack on one of the chairs. I follow his lead, placing my bag on the chair with his, double checking to make sure the scroll is in there still.
"Hey, why do you keep checking your bag, Kiku-chan?" Yugao asks as Tenzo slips in through the window. Kakashi follows him a second after, motioning for me and Naruto to sit in the empty chairs. I pull out the scroll, setting it on the table carefully before I climb up into an empty seat. I unroll the scroll, placing my hand over it and letting in a little bit of chakra while thinking about my bokken.
"I got this earlier!" I say, holding the bokken carefully while looking over at Yugao. Her eyebrows immediately raise, a smile blooming across her face.
"I didn't know you were interested in kenjutsu, Kiku-chan."
"Well, I read in Mito baa-chan's journal that the Uzumaki were also really skilled in kenjutsu, and then there was this really, really pretty sword in the weapon's shop-"
"What type?" Hayate asks.
"A Ninjato! I know it's not as popular, but according to baa-chan they were more popular in Uzu because each family could make their own 'ttbane." I start kicking my feet under the table. "I dunno, I just couldn't look at anything else."
"How about we go there tomorrow after school to look at it?" Hayate suggests, sitting on one of the kitchen counters. He'd been really nice all night after Yugao had introduced us. I didn't need knowledge from my previous life to know it was a lie when she said that they were just friends.
"Well, uh-" I scratch the back of my head. "Hiroto-san gave it to me." There's dead silence in the room until Kakashi speaks up.
"What?"
"Hiroto-san said it was an old friend's sword from Uzu." I say, placing my hand back on the scroll. Soon Ryūjin is in my hands and I'm surrounded by all the shinobi in the room. Naruto's eyes widen when he sees the sword, but he just looks confused.
"Shikaku already told me to ask someone to check any other swords like this in the future." I say, giving a sheepish smile to Kakashi. I can practically hear his eyes roll in response as his shoulders relax a little.
"At least Hiroto-san is trustworthy. It's rare that the old man leaves the back of the shop." Hayate says, whistling as he looks at the sword's handle.
"I-is it okay if I don't take it out?"
"I would've thought you would want to start stabbing all of us with it by now." Tenzo teases from behind me, but I shake my head quickly.
"I can do that with my bokken." Hayate sweat drops across the table, prompting giggles from me and Naruto.
"I just, I'm pretty sure I saw Uzu and while it was really, really, really pretty, it also made me sad."
"You don't have to do anything, Kiku-chan." Yugao says, patting the top of my head. "Would you like one of us to hang it up for you until you can use it?"
"Can we hang it in its sheath?"
"Of course." Yugao smiles as I hand it to her. Her eyebrows raise again as she looks down at the sword before she shakes her head as she walks into our room. What was that about?
"Can we open presents now?" Naruto asks from next to me.
"Go for it!" Yugao calls back from our room. "Just wait to open mine till I'm in there!"
Naruto immediately reaches for the present closest to him that's wrapped with orange wrapping paper. His nose scrunches up as he reads before a wide smile crosses his face.
"It's from Genma!"
"Well, open it!" I say, poking him in the side. He laughs, starting to tear the paper. The first thing Naruto pulls out is a copy of the first volume of Vegetables Basket. I cover my mouth to stop myself from laughing. I see Kakashi's shoulders shake from his concealed laughter, too. Naruto was just happy about the book, he's a sucker for shojos (thanks to Kunoichi Moon). But we're not laughing about that, no it's the fact that it's vegetables in the title. Naruto hates them!
After freaking out about his book, Naruto pulls out a small box. He turns it in his hands so I can see the label. Kid's practice senbons.
"How am I not surprised?" I laugh. Naruto does too as he slides a similar sized box wrapped in bright red wrapping paper from Genma. I quickly work on unwrapping it as Yugao walks back into the room, hopping up on the counter by Hayate.
"No way!" I squeal, looking into the box.
"What is it?" Kakashi asks, moving to prop his feet up on the table.
"A signed special collector's edition of Icha Icha." Kakashi freezes, his legs midair as he looks at me. He shakes his head, putting his feet back down.
"I've been working all day and you still won't let me put my feet up." I can hear the pout in his voice but just roll my eyes at him. He knows he can put his feet up on the empty chair in the room.
"It's actually a book on Uzu taijutsu! Where the hell did he find this?"
"Language." Five voices say at once. This time, I pout.
"If Genma was here he would've at least given me a high five." I say as I pull out my set of kid's senbon as well.
"Genma is a bad influence." Tenzo says, patting the top of my head.
"So is Kakashi. He's always reading p-" I feel a hand over my mouth as Tenzo stops me from speaking. I can't help but laugh, and the rolling amusement in Kakashi's chakra isn't helping either.
"Next!" Yugao says, clapping her hands together. This time Naruto motions for me to go first, so I grab the closest present wrapped in a bright purple paper. I see my name on it, and that it's from Yugao.
"This one's from you!" I smile up at her. She nods, encouraging me to open it. I squeal again.
"It's so cute I'm going to die! Thank you!"
I hear a mumbled, "What have you done?" From Kakashi, but I ignore him.
It's a bright purple ox. The character of a rapper from Kumo who doesn't use any photos of himself. He sounds strangely similar to what I've heard of Killer B, but his music is actually, well, good.
I swear Killer B just raps badly on purpose and Quick Light is his alter ego. That or he finally drove Gyuki to start his own rap career. I was okay with either option, honestly.
Yugao and I had bonded over music. The apartment was never quiet. There was always something leaking, we could hear someone outside, or someone was yelling at us from outside the locked door. Music stopped that. It gave a base background noise that let me finally relax.
I hated classical music when Yugao tried that. Then there was the kids' music that I may or may not have 'accidentally' put in the laundry once. Then Yugao tried her favorite genre: rap. Specifically rap she snuck in from Kumo. It wasn't technically illegal, but Anbu weren't really supposed to take detours to shop on missions.
Team Ro doesn't really listen to the rules.
I hear Naruto start to unwrap his present (a stuffed dolphin from his favorite cartoon) as I hold my toy closer to me, tracing the lightning bolt on one of the ox's legs.
The next half hour is filled with us taking turns opening our presents. Hayate had gotten us both a kid bokken tanto with the promise of teaching us proper katas in the future. Kakashi got us both new bento boxes, Naruto's had designs of toads on them while mine featured cute ninken faces (puppy piles with Kakashi's ninken were the best thing in this world).
Tenzo got Naruto a variety pack of hard to get ramen from different elemental nations (prompting a very emotional response from my ramen loving brother). And then he got me a fuinjutsu set with special chakra ink (prompting a very emotional response from yours truly).
After opening our presents we both took turns taking baths and changing into our pajamas. Soon we were both cuddled in Naruto's bed with hot chocolate as Kakashi read us a bedtime story. Naruto was asleep before Kakashi finished.
"You're not going to sleep yet are you?" He asks quietly after he closes the book.
"Nope!" I smile at him as I carefully climb out of Naruto's bed. "Gotta get our bags ready for tomorrow." I say as I put my empty mug in his outstretched hand. He grabs Naruto's mug as well, taking them to the kitchen. I follow closely behind him. I pull out my shopping list from my backpack before placing both mine and Naruto's bags on the table. Looking at the list, I know it's going to be a long night.
Soon Tenzo slides into the room after I've pulled out all of our supplies and divided them out on the kitchen table. A few hand signs and kisses to the top of my head later leaves me and Naruto alone in the apartment. It looks like our team was called out on another mission, and the random anbu replacements we normally get aren't coming tonight.
"Alright, Kiku." I say, slapping my hands to my cheeks to wake myself up. "The sooner you get this done, the sooner you can go to bed." I nod to myself before picking up my supply list once again.
A notebook for each major subject: Math, Reading, Writing, History of Konohagakure, Science, Geography, Chakra Theory, and Taijutsu Basics.
My head already hurts at how much I'm going to have to learn. Things weren't as easy for me to read as they were in my last life. Sure, I could force myself to do it, but it takes me longer. The characters switch and move around, and after a while they just all blend together.
Thankfully, the classes alternate days according to the schedule on the back of my supply list. I don't know what I'd do with myself if I had to do math and reading on the same day.
Textbooks for most classes are provided, but students in Kunoichi Classes Must Purchase the following textbooks every two years:
Years One and Two: The Art of Flowers; Home Economics for Young Kunoichi
Years Three and Four: 101 Classical Floral Arrangements; Sexual Education for Aspiring Kunoichi
Years Five and Six: Cultural Norms of the Elemental Nations; Basic Poisons for New Kunoichi
Year Seven: Advanced Infiltration and Seduction for New Kunoichi
I dread each of these books and classes. Also, what the hell was up with making girls buy the textbooks for these classes? I sigh and put The Art of Flowers and Home Economics for Young Kunoichi in my bag.
This was one of the aspects of shinobi life that I hadn't thought of at this point. It's good that there's these classes to help inform girls of what can happen. But my fear is that these things may happen even more than I think they will. That one day I'll be forced to- I shake my head to clear my thoughts. I'm not going there tonight.
A Minimum of five Kunai and five Shuriken.
Ah, yes. Because we should be giving mini demons pointy objects. I roll my eyes before double checking that our weapons are securely in their pouches. I slip them into the side pocket on one side of our bags. I know we still have our Anbu team, but it's good to be prepared, right?
A basic academy student medical kit. Students will add to these kits throughout their time at the academy.
Well, that's good at least. I slip them into the front pockets of our bags. Also easily accessible.
A water bottle or canteen.
InoShikaCho saw that and thought why not both? Naruto and I ended up with basic canteens that were covered in shinobi grade fabric (a gift from Ino's parents, most likely to make up for her rude comment). They also have a shinobi grade strap. I fill both of them up with water before attaching the strap to the top handle of our bags.
While I'm thinking of it, I grab a hidden purchase from earlier and attach it to Naruto's bag. We didn't have a ton of money to spare, but I wanted to get a small surprise for Naruto in the morning. It was a plush keychain that matched Gama-chan. I smile at the cute toy before going back over to the sink.
I fill up our water bottles next. Naruto's is a bright orange bottle that's somehow been covered with waterproof stickers from his favorite cartoons. I laugh at the sight as I put it into the open pocket on the side of his backpack. I smile at my water bottle, which was also covered in stickers, the majority are Kunoichi Moon characters, but there are a few fuinjutsu focused stickers as well. I trace the small pen sticker before putting my bottle in it's spot.
Pens and Ink for note taking.
"Of course they require pens and ink for note-taking. Kami forbid they actually teach fuinjutsu in a shinobi academy." I hear a quiet snort in Naruto's room. I freeze before putting the supplies in our bags. After a minute I quietly walk closer to our room and peek my head in the doorway.
Setting a wrapped present on my nightstand is a large man with bright white spikey hair trailing down his back in a ponytail. I cross my arms and lean against the doorway. As soon as he turns around, he freezes.
"You almost got away without me catching you this time." I whisper before walking by him and grabbing my present. His body is still tense as I turn to walk back towards the kitchen, so I grab onto his large calloused hand to pull him with me.
"Wait, kid-"
"Shh, you'll wake up Naru!" I whisper yell. He sweat-drops. Oh that was too easy. I lead him into the kitchen, pushing him into one of the chairs before sitting down next to him and clearing off a free spot on the table. "I know who my mom and dad are, so you don't have to hide when you drop off our presents."
"How-" I look pointedly at a picture of Naruto on the fridge before turning back to Jiraiya. "Right." He sighs.
"I guess Jiji told you that you couldn't tell us who you are?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry tadpole." He rests his hand on the top of my head. I feel burning in the back of my eyes as I blink hard.
"It's okay, Jiraiya-ojichan. Jiji told that to Genma-nii and Kakashi-nii too but we still found ways to be around eachoth-oh hey! Was dad close to InoShikaCho?"
"He was," Jiraiya chuckles, leaning back in his seat. "Why do you ask?"
"They took me and Naru shopping for our school stuff, and Shikaku and Shika got me out of detention."
"Shika?" Jiraiya asks conspiratorially. I feel my cheeks heat up and decide to ignore his laughter. "And what's this about you getting detention on the first day of school?"
"Our sensei is an idiot." I mumble, starting to remove the wrapping paper.
"Oh really?" Jiraiya asks, clearly amused.
"He asked for us to name ninja arts, and then said fuinjutsu isn't important!" There's a beat of silence.
"What?" All amusement is gone from his voice. "An Uzumaki answered fuinjutsu and he said it wasn't important?"
"And then I asked him why it took so many nations to take down Uzushio for their fuinjutsu. And then he gave me detention 'ttbane!" I huff, crossing my arms.
"How did Shika get you out of detention?" Jiraiya asks, a fond smile on his face.
"He started writing lines too. Then when Shikaku came in, he asked him what lie he told, you should've seen sensei's face." I struggle to keep my giggles quiet as I remember the panicked look. "Specially' when Shikaku said he'd ask Jiji what the importance of fuinjutsu is at his meeting tonight." Jiraiya covers his mouth, his shoulders shaking as he laughs.
"If there's one thing I can tell you, tadpole." He says after his laughter has calmed down. "Never mess with someone a Nara cares about."
"Eh?" I ask, turning away from my present. "They care about me?" Jiraiya snorts before placing the box in my lap.
"Open your present, tadpole. Sensei will be on me if I'm too late to this meeting."
"And you wanna see if Shikaku actually brings it up with Jiji, huh?"
"Obviously." He rolls his eyes. I laugh as I finish tearing off the wrapping paper. The first thing I see when I look into the box is a hair clip? What? I pull it out to examine it closer and feel myself smiling when I realize what it is. It's a dark green clip with cute toads and cherry blossoms. I put the clip down on the table carefully before looking back in the box.
There's a stuffed toad. Not just any stuffed toad, but one that looks just like Shima did in Naruto. A green toad with purple hair and clothes. I slap my hand over my mouth to cover my squeal, causing Jiraiya to laugh at me.
"Shh, she's so cute! Thank you!" I finally say, wrapping my arms around one of Jiraiyas.
"No need to thank me, tadpole. You kids had to get enough shinobi things today, I wanted to get you a few things just for you too, you know." He pats my head with his free hand until I let go of his arm to look back into the box. "Although, I did have to get you some fuinjutsu supplies since you've gone through everything I've dropped off so far."
"It's so much easier than trying to read other books and scrolls, I can understand what they're saying more than when they write stuff out. Why can't everything be written like fuinjutsu stuff?"
"Because not everyone can understand fuinjutsu notes. Honestly you're a little monster with how fast you're going through all this."
"What do you expect?" I smirk up at him. He rolls his eyes before motioning back to the box. I finally pull out the last thing inside, a large scroll with a note on the front.
"It's not perfect," Jiraiya says. "But it should be good enough to get you through the academy and your genin days."
"What?" I say more to myself than to Jiraiya. The note is short and I know I read it right, but, did he seriously get me all of this?
Hey Tadpole
You've been a little monster with your fuinjutsu so I thought it was time to get you the proper Uzumaki setup. Inside this scroll you'll find ink, pens, plenty of paper and scrolls, a floor cushion, a small fuinjutsu table, and a shelf to help store your supplies.
"There's a diagram of how they used to set up fuinjutsu tables for kids in Uzu in the scroll, too. I already put storage seals on the shelf so you can keep it organized. Rule two for fuinjutsu specialists-"
"Always treat your workspace with respect."
"And rule number one?"
"A fuinjutsu specialist's well must never go empty." I say as I fiddle with the edge of the scroll. "That means even if I ever run out of ink, I've got to find something else to make my seals with, 'ttbane!"
"Good job, tadpole." He ruffles my hair. I don't try to swat his hand away. I can hear the pain in his voice and that's the last thing I expected from him. Had dad said something similar? I carefully put my scroll down on the table before climbing over into his lap. I wrap my arms around him, burying my head in his chest. I let some tears finally slip out.
"Love you, Raiya-ojichan."
"I love you too, tadpole." He says, hugging me tightly.