The New Normal - Cheating at Ribbons

I kept following Kanshi to visit Isae and Doctor Manami, but otherwise my confinement continued.

I got some supervised practice with learning the substitution jutsu from Mitsutada's scroll, and I was allowed to continue my 'chakra control exercise' on my own once I proved I could keep myself above half capacity.

I also got some heavy reading done on chakra theory. Since adventure/fantasy just wasn't a thing, apparently.

So a month passed.

After a checkup with the doctor, I was cleared to return to the general education classes with Kanshi.

"Here we are."

Oh.

I coughed awkwardly.

How do I go about telling Kanshi that I'm smarter than him without it being insulting?

"Umm… Kanshi? I need to go to the next class. I finished here a couple of months ago…"

"Very well my lady, we shall go!"

Oh no.

On top of having to do my own learning that day, I also had to explain everything to Kanshi, who wasn't quite keeping up.

"I am loath to admit my failings, but perhaps next time I should leave to my own class and come pick you up during the break and afterwards."

I nodded awkwardly.

"Very well, I shall double my efforts to catch up!"

…

I was also given the okay to do some of the simpler martial arts katas. As long as I was under watch and did them slowly.

It's fine by me. I needed to refocus on the basics anyway.

"So you taught yourself this?"

In this life…

"Yes."

"So it would be a style of your making would it not?"

"That doesn't feel right. Perhaps it was something I learned in a past life?"

I refused to take credit for this, and this excuse might actually fly.

"Oh?"

Welp, I'm going with it.

"These movements have always felt right."

"There is precedent for such. That would explain why some of the movements are familiar…"

Well yea, taekwondo was one of the references your creator god Kishimoto used.

"I'm not blind to the style's flaws for us ninja though. It's like the style was made for a world without chakra."

"I find myself agreeing. Perhaps we could refine and rework this into a shinobi style then?"

I stumbled in surprise.

"Really?"

"When I'm off mission of course. While the Shiin techniques are focused around ninjutsu and genjutsu, we often have to complement it with outside influences. My brother developed a technique based on attaching a ribbon to a kunai, while I pursued taijutsu, so I should be able to assist."

"Thank you!"

Then, my energy died down as I caught a thought.

"Though maybe… it might be best to leave as is. It is very solid when restrained to flat close quarters. While I am thankful for the offer, I should focus on my staff- and bowmanship for mid to long range fights with unusual terrain."

"I take it that those skills are not the same as your taijutsu?"

I nodded.

"It would allow you to maintain the strong composition of your organised fighting style, though that would require you to learn to switch weapons quickly, and carrying both a bow and a staff might be a bit too much."

Light bulb.

"Not if…"

I popped out an arrow from one of my seals.

"...I could get a foldable or extendable staff. One I could store away."

He laughed, and patted me on the head again.

I don't think he's giving that habit up any time soon.

…I didn't completely mind.

"Right you are. Then show me some of your bojutsu, and I'll see what comments I can add. It'll be good practice for the future if Kanshi picks up a weapon."

I lit up under the praise and attention.

Yup, still hadn't quite rid myself of my young body's childish impulses.

…

I was also allowed to help in the kitchen for the family meals, cooking either with Shikyou or his wife Yuharu. I was still unsure of whether she liked me or hated my guts. I also got the distinct feeling she was laughing at me whenever I squirmed under her gaze.

"Yumika."

It was the only thing she'd said so far. There was a hint of strictness and worry(?) in the tone.

"Yes?"

I stopped what I was doing, wondering what the problem was.

She walked up and grabbed my wrist, holding my hand up to my face.

Oh.

There was a pretty deep cut along my left hand.

I hadn't felt anything.

The whole lack of pain thing might be a problem.

I saw the blood drip from my hand onto the kitchen bench.

Drip… drip…

The memory didn't phase me nearly as much as it used to, so I was still aware of myself when Yuharu picked me up and rushed me to the doctor.

They didn't let me use any knives after that.

…

So three months passed.

I was cleared for more proper physical activity again, so I got back to practising with my bow. Also, stretches, warmups, and the rest of my katas were back on the menu!

By this point, I could pull off a substitution, and a basic chakra impact. That is to say, that the pulse had the force of any of the other kids' full strength punch. With my own strength, I'd be punching with the force of 1.5 kids… yeah I was pretty weak. It also cost me around 1/40th of my chakra per use.

That didn't help my weakness in the defence, unless…

…ever heard of 'reactive armour'?

Therefore I started trying to do the strength technique from the points of my body I blocked with. I also did it with my feet, because I kicked a lot. I didn't see any reason I shouldn't.

…partway through I'd remember why feet were used for chakra control practice.

So six months passed.

I was cleared to spar again.

"Umm… lord Shiin, sir."

"Yumika, you've been my guest for half a year now, please call me Shikyou."

I shuffled a bit uncomfortably.

"Right, Shikyou?"

"Yes Yumika?"

How do I ask this…

He was the only one I could think to ask.

"I'm worried… about fighting."

"You did perfectly well before, I'm sure you'll do well again."

I looked to the floor.

"It's not that… if I'm not careful… I enjoy it… too much."

I twiddled my thumbs.

"I'm scared that I'll lose control. I'm scared that if I let go I'll take it too far, but no one likes it when I clamp down on my feelings and hold back. I've seen it as a shadow clone, it's not pretty."

"Hmm… So when do you fight better?"

I looked up to face him, curiously.

"Well… I think I move better when I let go, but I fight smarter when I clamp down."

"Then you have your answer."

That… told me nothing.

He clearly caught my confused look.

"Everyone else is going to be doing their best, so long as you do as well things will turn out for the best. Whether that means holding back or letting loose will depend on the situation. Shinobi face the same issue all the time, sometimes we need to win, and sometimes we need to accomplish other goals. It's about balance."

He smiled and patted me on the head.

"That medic isn't in charge anymore. Neither is Mitsutada. My wife isn't going to let a spiteful loser simmer on it, or a prideful winner ride it too long. Just do your best, and check in with the doctor afterwards."

I guess it's worth trying.

I took a breath…

"Thank you for the help sir."

Then I jogged after Kanshi.

…

I hadn't missed the glares, and being Rukia and Hei had hampered my ability to ignore it.

Maybe Kin had a point…

I shook my head.

I wouldn't accept that.

…but by proxy, Kanshi was getting glared at as well.

He didn't even seem bothered.

"No, this won't do."

Huh?

Kanshi tugged slightly on my hoari to get me to follow.

Where are we going?

He stopped in front of a glaring group, and I gave him an alarmed look.

"My friends, I believe there are some issues that need to be resolved."

I can't do this Kanshi!

I wanted to run.

I scanned the room and found the door.

I could…

Isae came up on my other side, blocking my escape.

Betrayal!

There was only one way left…

"H- Hi."

I hadn't mentally prepared myself for this and strangers were actually terrifying.

The incident with Kin didn't count, I'd had the competition as a cover and was too exhausted by the end to think straight. I was too relieved and confused to feel any terror when I met Isae and doctor Manami. Kanshi and the adults I approached with business, so no social pressure.

There was no reason for these people to tolerate my presence.

Then Isae started laughing.

"Haha, when you said you weren't good at talking to people, I didn't think it was this bad."

Betrayal!

"Now, friend Isae, let's not bother the girl too much for her social deficiencies. We can't all be charismatic."

Kanshi, you're not helping!

Isae placed a hand on my shoulder, and seemed to manage to reel in her explosive side. Probably thinking: 'Got to be cool like Doctor Manami.'

"As you can all see, Yumika is completely harmless. She just comes across as a creepy unfeeling arrogant psychopath because of how she fights… and her inability to talk to strangers."

The glares let up and Isae let go.

It's… actually working?

I looked around frantically, confused.

They stopped caring. Some of them laughed and shrugged it off.

I couldn't believe it.

These people had glared at me for as long as I could remember them. I ignored them all to begin with. Had they all forgotten that?

I was such a fool. How could I think I could spend more than a year around the same people without getting attached at all? And now…

"Well Yumika, let us prepare for our educational combat… Yumika?"

I'm not…

"Isae… I believe you may have taken your comments a bit far."

I'm not…

"Don't put this on me-! I mean… Hardly, it was the necessary quantity. This was your plan."

My vision blurred a bit.

I'm not…

"Well, whoever's fault this is, we should fix it quickly before mother notices."

I'm not…

I wiped the back of my hand across my eyes.

"How are we supposed to do that, I've never seen her cry before!?"

"I'm not crying!"

I protested, weakly.

"There's just something in my eyes."

"...we might have to reconsider the whole 'not arrogant' thing."

"Now is not the time, Isae."

"Chill, it's a false alarm Kanshi."

She shrugged, and then faced me and put a supportive hand on my arm.

"This is where you say 'thank you'."

My childish impulse urged me to pout.

"Th-thank you."

Urgh, this whole sobbing thing was getting in the way. Everyone's looking at me.

I could practically feel my reputation going up in flames.

Maybe that's for the best…

Yuharu Shiin

Saves me the trouble.

In Yuharu's opinion, that had been elegantly done.

She had of course noticed the disdain. She had been spending the last 6 months slowly undoing the work that her predecessors had put in.

With that out of the way, she could focus on the day's exercise.

Tiger-Hare-Boar-Ram-Dog-Ox-Snake.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall."

She dug and raised walls to form a two-tiered maze, then turned back to her collection of trainees and pulled out 5 ribbons, each coloured: blue, red, green, yellow, and brown. They represented water, fire, wind, lightning, and earth respectively. Though the children weren't likely to figure that out.

"5 at a time. Each of you start with a ribbon. Blue wants red, red wants green, green wants yellow, yellow wants brown, and brown wants blue. If you finish the match with the ribbon you want, you win. Yes, that means more than one person can win. No restrictions, but be reasonable or I will step in."

If this was the only ninja training many of these kids were getting, she was going to make sure they got more than combat experience. She'd been doing a number of these 'games' up until now.

She kept an eye on the matches once they got started.

As expected, to begin with everyone was just running around looking for a fight. It's why she had the first group be those who she expected would end up as combat specialists. Everyone else was going to see the problems with what this group was doing, and could better make use of, and practice, their own more appropriate skills and talents.

That's surprising.

In the corner of her eye, she saw Yumika, the girl her husband had been gushing about.

She withheld a snicker at the thought.

Okay, maybe he wasn't quite gushing.

Everyone was watching, but the girl seemed completely fixated.

Definitely a plan in there.

That kind of thinking tended to tear the foundations of these games up from the roots.

She's definitely taking part in the last group.

The 5 minutes were up.

"Done, gather up."

She had mental notes on each of the participants that she'd advise them on later. Someone else was bound to make the same mistakes and she wasn't keen on repeating herself.

…

The next group started to get smarter. While three of them still ran around. One started sneaking, and the last one set up a trap, which would serve as good excuses to bring up some general advice.

…

The last group.

People had been getting more and more clever as they took ideas from the groups before them.

Yumika had been given the Red ribbon.

Yuharu gave the signal to begin.

The girl started by walking up the wall of the room all the way to the roof, which gave her a clear view of everyone.

When she found the one she was looking for, she dropped down on someone, open and in view.

They talked quietly enough that the pre-genin couldn't hear, but it was clear to Yuharu.

There had been team ups already, so that wasn't too strange… but Yumika had dropped down onto the one with the blue ribbon.

Then the two of them went and found the brown ribbon. Then the three of them found the yellow ribbon, then all four of them met up with the green ribbon.

Yuharu really shouldn't have left that error in her explanation.

"Congratulations to all five of you."

For now, she would let the five kids celebrate their joint victory.

My fault for not specifying that you needed to keep your ribbon… Next time I'm writing this out ahead of time.

She could appreciate the mischief though.