Forest Bells - Cat and Mouse

Click. Click. Creak.

Hayama unlocked the door to his apartment, then flipped on the light.

It was a quaint thing. It had a combined kitchen and living room, a simple dinner table in the kitchen area, and a couch in the living area. Everything was neat and orderly, and while decorations were minimal, the area did feel lived in. The couch was worn out in specific spots, there were marks on the floor from the chairs around the dining table, and minor scratch marks scattered throughout the room.

He's probably had his genin team here.

There were three doors, one which led out to a balcony, and two on the right side.

"I guess I'll be sleeping on the couch."

"No actually, you'll be taking my bed, the door furthest in leads to it. The other door leads to the bathroom."

I nodded, ignoring how he seemed to want to say more.

He wasn't being generous, I could tell that much. Unless I could break down the wall, I would need to pass through the living room to escape. Which meant I would have to try to sneak past a sleeping jonin.

I do have explosive ta-

Rejected.

I wouldn't get far without stealth.

I made my way towards the bedroom, stopping with a hand on the door.

"...I am going to try to escape as soon as I see the chance."

"I assumed as much. Why tell me?"

"You seem nice, I don't want to lie to you."

I closed the door behind me.

I checked the window.

Locked.

Seals flashed into existence as I touched it.

…and secured.

I sighed.

It was worth trying.

Then I laid down on the soft bed for a whole 30 minutes, before falling asleep on the floor.

Where am I?

Hayama's apartment in the hidden leaf. No hostiles.

As usual, I woke up alert.

Subconsciously I popped out a set of clothes and breakfast, before leaving the bedroom.

He's still asleep.

I snuck to the door leading out, gripped the handle and-

"You're not on mission. You don't need to wake up this early."

-slacked into resigned casualness.

"I don't sleep much anymore."

I heard him get up and start fiddling around in the kitchen.

"Why?"

I shrugged and sat on the couch.

"Breakfast?"

"I already ate."

Silence followed.

He's trying to be friendly…

I didn't care. Given the circumstances, I was allowed to be unreasonable and rude.

Two exits. He might not know that the balcony is valid for me, but he probably suspects.

I leaned back into the couch.

What openings do I have? He needs to be away, so if he leaves for something, goes to the bathroom, or changes clothes.

Problem was that he probably knew that as well.

Can I get enough distance before he notices?

No, probably not… I was going to try it anyway.

Stupid plans or otherwise, I needed to check on my chakra.

I crossed my legs.

Breathe in…

Full chakra, no restraints.

…and out.

Made sense, I was just a genin.

"Let's head out."

Hayama got up and made for the door, and I followed obediently.

Training ground of some sort.

An open area surrounded by trees. Well… it was open because all the trees in this area had been cut down, and some of the ones in the centre uprooted entirely.

Open enough for him to keep an eye on me, and surrounded by their favoured terrain.

I wasn't going to be able to make an escape here either.

He drew his sword and started going through katas.

Standing around isn't going to do me any good.

I started going through my own katas. Fortunately, I'd learned how to do so without tearing myself apart over the years.

…

Tsk.

Two hours in and I was getting more irritated with myself.

That's not quite right, foot further forward-

The missions with Haruka had cut into my time spent training, and clearly my fundamentals had suffered for it.

I could do that perfectly last year!

I corrected myself and started again.

…

An hour later and it was 7 in the morning. I'd stopped doing my katas and was resting on a tree stump when Hayama's genin team arrived.

"Yo, sensei! Oh, it's the pansy." Shita said. My status as a 'pansy' had seemingly established itself as fact in his mind.

I grunted back, ignoring the unintended provocation, and instead opted to observe a squirrel that was climbing up in one of the trees.

"Good, everyone's here."

Hayama said.

"First, good job with the mission. You all upheld yourselves well as shinobi of the hidden leaf and should be proud of your conduct, as well as your ability. Consequently, the coming month has been set aside for D-rank missions and training. I expect great improvement from all of you."

It was relatively mild praise, all things considered, but judging by the way all three of them straightened up proudly, it must have been a lot coming from him.

"Secondly, as you can all see, this is Yumika Nogawa. She has been put under my care from now on. I hope you can all get along."

I scoffed.

He turned to me.

"Yumika, this is my genin team. Shita Inuzaka, Seno Aburame, and Ureha Ueno."

I acted like I wasn't listening.

"Standard warmups, all of you."

They started running.

"You could join them."

"No thanks."

I laid down and took a nap instead.

…

Unfortunately, I couldn't sleep away the rest of the training session. I was awake by the time they finished their warmup. A fact that Shita seemed to notice.

"Finally awake pansy? Looks like you couldn't keep up with an actual ninja's daily rhythm."

I opened an eye lazily to acknowledge the smirking dog boy.

"Don't worry little baby, you can go back to sleep."

He's trying to provoke me.

I got up and sat back down on the log without dignifying his taunts with any response.

"Now that everyone is warmed up, I want to watch you spar. Yumika, would you like to join?"

Take part, injure opponent as 'accident', escape while jonin is taking student to hospita-

"No."

"Ha, I bet a baby like you can't even fight."

I looked over at Shita with a flat expression.

"Yes, I'm very weak and a massive coward.

I took great pleasure in the way my response threw him off.

"Very well, Shita and Seno, you two go first."

The two walked up, while Ureha sat on a tree stump next to mine. With nothing better to do, I watched the spar closely.

Seno started the fight by disengaging and leaving a bug clone in his place, while Shita rushed to the side to circumvent the clone.

Where's his dog?

The Inuzaka were renowned for their ninja hound companions, but I hadn't seen Shita's yet. Neither out by the border nor here.

The 'battle' between Shita and Seno continued as it started. Seno kept his clone between the two while Shita tried to circumvent it.

They're familiar with each other.

Seno didn't want Shita close, and Shita respected Seno's bugs enough not to charge through them.

…but if things continue like this there won't be a resolution. What's their game?

Maybe one of them had a stamina advantage, but if so, who? And why was the other one cooperating with the battle of attrition? It just didn't make sense.

So what are they waiting for?

It couldn't simply be for one of them to make a mistake. That was just too simple.

I chanced a glance over at Hayama. He seemed mildly irritated judging by how he was tapping his finger.

Oh. It really is that simple.

"Okay, stop."

Seems Hayama had enough.

The two boys did so and the clone dispersed.

"Seno, why didn't you attack?"

"Stopping to attack would have given Shita the opening to engage and I would proceed to lose the spar. I would have gotten Shita into a disadvantageous position eventually."

"Shita, you were letting Seno control the flow, why?"

"I can outlast him, he was bound to make a mistake eventually.."

Cat and mouse.

"Time is a resource like any other. Sparring here in the village, sure, you're safe to wait each other out, but out in the field that can cost you. Furthermore, if both of you are waiting each other out then that means that neither of you has the advantage, you need to consider what your opponent is doing and why. Sometimes that means making the less effective choice."

Hayama crossed his arms.

"Again."

I could tell from the way the two boys stood that one of them hadn't taken the advice to heart, and when the rematch began, it showed.

"Fire release: Blazing Claws!"

Shita's fists burned hot and he charged right through the bug clone, burning it away. Then pounced onto Seno before he had a chance to react. Seno's jacket must have been fire resistant, because he was able to block a couple of blows before being knocked to the ground.

"Match."

While Hayama began giving feedback on the second spar, Ureha turned her attention to me.

"They're pretty cool, right?"

I grunted noncommittally with a shrug, creating an awkward silence.

"Why did you decide to be a ninja?"

"I didn't."

More awkward silence followed, and I was starting to feel like an asshole. Despite that, I wasn't going to give up anytime soon.

This will be easier when they start treating me the way I deserve.

She was about to say more when Hayama called her over.

I waited a moment to make sure that no eyes were on me, and acted when Shita made a particularly loud exclamation.

Ram. Snake. Tiger.

A copy of me sat on the log while I silently dashed behind a tree with a burst of chakra.

Am I clear?

Hayama was still talking to them, and none of them had moved.

Good.

I moved up into the treeline with tree walking and started sneaking away.

Soft movements don't leave footprints in the trees.

…

A minute later, when I was safe out of hearing distance, I upped the pace.

Need to cleanse my scent to escape the Inuzaka and rid myself of any potential bugs from the Aburame.

In other words, I needed to make a dive into some water.

No rivers or lakes nearby…

…but this was a city with public baths.

I stored away my scarf and kunai pouch, used a transformation to recolour my trousers away from the signature grey camo, put on a jacket, and undid my hair.

Once I was out of the training field and in the urban setting, I made sure to walk differently as well. Channelling a bit of Hei did wonders on that front.

…

"Yo, do you know where I can find a bathhouse?"

The random civilian suspected nothing, of course, and gave me the directions I needed.

"Thanks."

Without Hayama and his shinobi status to draw attention, I had nothing to 'shield' me from the local populace.

Everyone was just so… nice.

I was asked at least three times if I needed help finding my parents, and four more times if I was lost. The owner of a dango stand offered me a free dango, and seemed amused when I paid for it.

Despite knowing this was what the hidden leaf was like, I couldn't stop the voice in the back of my mind that told me this was wrong, that clearly they had to be planning something sinister. All of it clashed hard with the instincts I'd grown over the years in the land of rice paddies.

I didn't like what those thoughts said about me.

I didn't like the envy gnawing in my chest.

…

This was work… I could do this.

"Modesty isn't in the shinobi playbook."

Public bathing… was not something I was comfortable with. As a child of the daimyo I had access to a private one, and the hidden sound only really had typical modern showers.

Easier than talking to strangers. Easier than talking to strangers. Easi-

Fortunately for my sanity, there weren't any characters I recognised. I'm not sure if I could handle my first meeting with figures I practically idolised in the nude.

The bath was swift, but effective, and I made sure to use a different set of clothes afterwards.

Hmm…

For good measure I bought a strong perfume, one that seemed pretty popular among the middle class here.

…

Next step, lay low.

Hayama and the team must have noticed me missing by now so they'd probably be searching frantically. I needed to wait for them to give up a bit before leaving.

I noticed a sign hanging from a well washed building with an artistically patterned door.

A teahouse.

"Excuse me, could I get a table for one?"

The woman by the counter gave me a sceptical look.

"Are you sure you can afford this young miss?"

I plastered a bright smile as I brought up a stack of ryo.

"I helped father land a good deal and he wanted to reward me with a meal, his client recommended this place!"

The cute act seemed to have worked, as the woman proudly gushed about the teahouse and swiftly got me a table.

It was a bit of a strange place. The building actually surrounded a garden. The 'hallway' that connected all the tables was actually more of a balcony, and each table was in an alcove that had a full view of the garden.

I did have a favourite tea, one which was admittedly on the more expensive side of things-

I'm a rich kid in this life, sue me.

-one which I was pleasantly surprised to find out they had in stock. In fact, they claimed to be the only place in the village that had it. On top of that, being a kid let me get away with ordering an excessive amount of sweets without breaching social etiquette.

I'll have to remember this place.

It wasn't just comfort though. I sat there with full awareness that Hayama or his genin team could show up at any second.

So the two hours that followed were notably stressful.

It seems to have worked though.

"Thank you for the service."

"Please come again."

I paid and left.

…

How do I get out of the village?

The hidden leaf was a walled settlement with active guards at every entrance. An almost 12 year old without a headband would not be allowed through on her own. There was also the sensing barrier.

Not sure how that works, but it probably detects active chakra passing the city limits…

Which would mean no wall walking or chakra boosted jumping to cross the wall.

…not that I could do that without one of the local ninja seeing me.

So the gate.

Sneaking into someone's wagon/cargo wouldn't work. I would bet the chunin guards would notice. It took more skill than I had to just walk with another group Assassin's Creed style without them noticing.

Guard shift was a bad idea, there would be twice the number of shinobi present-

"I don't get it, how did we lose her?!"

"It matters little, sensei trusts us to find her so we will."

"We've been at this for hours, she must have escaped by now."

I walked right past Hayama's genin team.

Altering my path, hesitating, or unusual movements would have gotten me caught there, but this was a trick I had long since mastered from my time in the hidden sound.

I just have to try to bullshit my way through the main entrance.

I rounded the last corner…

"Had a nice day?"

…and came face to face with Hayama who was waiting there.

My shoulders fell.

"...how far did I actually get?"

His non-answer was clear enough.

He never lost track of me.