A/N: Hello, people! COVER ART BY: Niyuu_Trickster_Kat!
I don't own Naruto.
I have no beta.
ENJOY!
CHECK ME OUT ON TUMBLR. HELLY-WATERMELONSMELLINFELLON!
TAGS for this Chapter: SWEARING and GAI and LEE.
152 cm = 4 ft 11 in. I was 5'6" by the time I turned 13 & remember
towering over everyone, so I decided to remove at least 1/2 a foot for
Yuuki.
50,000 Ryo = about $4,600.
"I DID IT!" Naruto screamed, holding up his hand to show his leaf that was currently cut into four equal pieces. It was one of those super thick ones from the special trees that Shodaime Hokage had planted, to make it harder in training.
The man in charge of their Chakra Natures class, Usui-sensei, sent him an encouraging smile from across the yard and said, "Well done! Now try and cut the next into eight even pieces."
The blond nodded and yanked another leaf off one of the trees. Not too far away, Sasuke was controlling a bunch of lit candles. He was the most advanced in the class when it came to these exercises 'cause he already knew elemental ninjutsu, so he had the hardest work to do, which was to regulate five candles at once, and all flames had to be different sizes. He wasn't allowed to touch the candles either.
Yuuki was a step below him and was supposed to filter out the heat from an incredibly hot piece of coal to stop it from burning or catching fire. It was harder than it looked, she'd told him.
The bulk of the class were trying to burn a leaf with their chakra still.
As Naruto was one of the few students who didn't have Katon Chakra - as it was the most prevalent in all of Hi no Kuni - he had the most unique exercises to do and loved it!
After this he'd move on to the most difficult of the exercises for his Chakra Nature, which was apparently to cut a waterfall in half. Thankfully, Konoha had many of those and he had Kage on his side! He'd get it done in no time and then he'd catch up to Sasuke and show him that he wasn't the best in class!
Nothing would stop him on his way to becoming Hokage! He'd slay these weird exercises and then he'd learn all the coolest Futon Jutsu out there and be unstoppable!
He hoped there was one that would let him fly. It would be the coolest thing ever! He'd never heard of flying shinobi before and being the first would be awesome! Naruto, the Flying Hokage had a nice ring to it.
"Hokage-sama, we've noted an abnormal amount of activity between Suna and Oto!"
The old man set his pipe aside the moment one of his Anbu teams appeared in his office. He could already feel that his day was going to go downhill from this and got in one last good drag before giving them his full attention. "Abnormal how?"
"Oto dignitaries keep visiting Suna frequently. Our mole confirmed they've taken a special interest in helping to train the Suna shinobi in specific drills in homemade courses that resemble Konoha's landscape."
Alarm shot through him in an instant and he rifled through his desk to find the papers about the upcoming Chunin Exam Konoha was hosting. In them, he found Oto's intention of sending one team along, and Suna, while sending many, was sending the Kazekage's children's team. The Kazekage was set to attend the the Third Chunin Exam as well.
The village run by Orochimaru, Hiruzen's erstwhile student, was taking a special interest in the development of Suna shinobi? And coaching them through trials of Konoha's landscape?
It didn't sound trustworthy to him. Especially since Suna's side of the treaty was very shaky these past few years. He wasn't oblivious to their council's lacking opinion on Konoha as a people.
"Get me Nara Shikaku, Neko. The rest of you collect the rest of the Anbu stationed in the village and bring them here."
They could possibly be about to face a thunderstorm and Konoha wasn't going down without a fight.
"Oh for fuck sake!" Tsunade swore the moment she caught sight of the masked figure. It was a Konoha Anbu wearing the pig mask. And it was most definitely one of Konoha's Anbu as they knew the chakra pulse necessary when greeting Tsunade. It was just a little extra protection for both Tsunade and the Konoha forces. So she didn't punch an ally(and she used that term very loosely) and cause the village more problems by lowering their list of active operatives.
While she wasn't on the active roster any longer, she was still a shinobi of Konoha in title at least. She couldn't attack them for just approaching her. That didn't mean she couldn't run and lead them on a merry chase all over Hi no Kuni until they finally gave up. It was a tried and true formula and hadn't failed her thus far.
Shizune, holding TonTon, their pet piglet, looked between her mentor and the masked shinobi in concern. She knew that rousing Tsunade's ire wasn't a smart idea for anyone involved. It was a quick way to end up with a caved in rib cage. Or a destroyed building.
"What do you want?" the blonde woman demanded hotly, glaring over the rim of her sake bottle.
"Apologies, Tsunade-hime, but it's not for you," said Buta, holding out a scroll to Shizune. The scroll bore a red string, meaning it was of A-Rank classification and Tsunade couldn't read it without Shizune's explicitly given permission. Her interest was caught of course, but not enough to be worried.
TonTon was set on the table so Shizune could read through whatever the Sandaime had sent. Her eyes became wide after a few minutes and looked to the Anbu. "Is he absolutely serious?"
"I do not know the contents of the scroll but Hokage-sama was very serious when assigning this mission and urged me to find you before the upcoming Genin Exam, Shizune-san," explained the Anbu.
And that was when Tsunade's attention focused sharply, the sake bottle being set aside so she could give Shizune all of her attention. "What is it?" she demanded. What could be so important that Genin were involved?
Wordlessly, her Apprentice handed over the scroll, eyes still wide but distantly lost in thought.
To Jonin, Kato Shizune of Konohagakure no Sato,
Any information therein is confidential and should it be shared, may only pass to
Senju Tsunade's eyes. Please burn this scroll when you no longer have use of it.
It's with great reverence that the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hirzuen, wishes to
employ your expertise in a very sensitive matter. The graduation class in April is
going to have an uneven number of students who must have a Jonin instructor.
The odd one out, one Yuuki, a clanless orphan, shows too much promise to just
be relegated to the Genin Corp where she'd be lost in the shuffle and lack many
chances of rising in rank.
Yuuki transferred from the civilian school into the Shinobi Academy when she was
almost nine, joining the Second Year class with ease and acclimating to her new
life over a long period of time. This occurred after a confrontation with her school
bully left him with a broken jaw from a single, chakra-filled punch by Yuuki. From
personal observation she had located her own chakra and had been using it often
for a couple years in keeping her body temperature high enough to stay warm at
all times in an orphanage that lacked proper heating.
Her grasp of chakra control exercises is only equaled by her Hyuga and Uchiha
classmates.
Further issues arose in the fact that one Shimura Danzo has shown an interest
in the child's development. Not too long after her transfer, Yuuki brought some
concerns to her Academy instructor about another instructor's attitude toward
some of the students. An investigation revealed the Chunin in question to have
a treasonous connection to both Orochimaru and Danzo, passing information off
to each. Orochimaru received intel on clan children and Danzo received intel on
orphans who showed promise. Those would eventually drop out of school thanks
to the Chunin's interference and then disappear. It was discovered that Danzo
had taken them on their way home for his own purposes.
Yuuki was actually in his sights at the orphanage and only managed to barely
escape him during her transfer. With his mole from the Academy in prison, and
his rights and status being officially stripped from him, he's had a difficult time
trying to get her alone as he cannot leave his Clan Compound ever again. No
one believes that he has no remaining agency in the world though. If she does
end up in the Genin Corps, it'll be easier for him to get his hands on her if she
is left alone. The Sandaime would prefer that she be taught by somebody that
he considers to be trustworthy, in the ways of Iryo Ninjutsu.
Yuuki displays some lazy tendencies but will still work without complaint in the
end. Her biggest vice is sleeping and biggest motivation is food. She is fond of
reading and learning new information in her free time, plus can grasp difficult
concepts faster than most Chunin could. She is very blunt and shameless.
The Hokage requests that you to take on the training of this future Genin with
hope that you'll teach her your exceptional skills and instill within her a moral
compass.
The Hokage wishes to alert you to the existence of the Kato Foundation - a
non-profit organization which was founded one month after Yuuki transferred
into her Second Year - which is dedicated to teaching Iryo Ninjutsu classes at
the hospital while supplying obligatory, basic medical courses at the Academy
so the students will be better prepared to help their fellow shinobi once they
graduate. Other classes have been installed in the curriculum since then and
your opinion on the direction of these matters would also greatly help those
in Administration.
Furthermore, you'll obtain your Iryo Ninjutsu Mastery and receive an A-Rank
payment every month until Yuuki attains Jonin status and can't be recruited
into Danzo's Ne. The organization was disbanded twice, but we shall remain
alert. Danzo has proven to be untrustworthy so we can't take any chances.
With much respect,
Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato.
The entire letter had been very compelling, but it was the reveal of the Kato Foundation that hit her the hardest. Shizune barely knew Dan before he died. As he'd been Tsunade's husband-to-be, she had taken the girl on when her parents died in the last war. She was basically Tsunade's niece-in-law after all.
It was obvious the foundation did mean something to the younger woman, but it was especially momentous to Tsuande. She knew what her sensei was playing at, and he was playing it very well. But she also knew that this was genuine and not just done to lure her back.
Whatever that Yuuki girl had exposed, ended up getting an important ball rolling. And it got Tsunade's sensei off his old ass and got him thinking and working to try and fix so many of his own mistakes. She was certain if she looked at the Academy's current curriculum, there would be even more changes than the usual, non-wartime schedule. And that was a good thing no matter personal feelings about leadership and the life of a shinobi.
"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked quietly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"
She tossed the letter back to her Apprentice and straightened in her seat. Things had just drastically changed. No, she was not happy with Konoha or the shinobi way of life, or the Hi no Ishi and how so many fell in battle with its words in their minds. But still… mandatory medical training for Academy students which would prepare them more easily for additional training in anything, especially at the hospital.
More medical professionals in the village at all times. Less death of children in future teams. Less families torn apart by loss this way.
"If you choose to go back, I'll follow. But only to see to it that these classes are appropriate and truly teaching something useful. Don't expect me to teach some gaki or anything. You can have the kid to yourself."
It was all a big mistake. The one day she decided to go and get in some personal training ended up being the day where she ran into… them.
It was a Genin team. With a very unique sensei to say the least.
Yuuki never wanted to see the color green ever again.
She thought Naruto's obsession with orange had been terrible but at least his outfit was a jumpsuit and he wore a black shirt underneath. This was green spandex and it clung to the body unforgivingly.
At least the man was brave enough to wear something like that without fear of judgment. Because there sure as hell was a lot of judgment. No way in hell there wasn't.
"Yosh! We have come upon another adamantly fanning their flames of youth!"
Just when she thought it was bad enough, a mini version of the Jonin in question, appeared next to him. So. Much. Spandex. So. Much. Noise. So. Many. Questions. In. Her. Mind!
"GAI-SENSEI, IF I CANNOT DENT MY STUMP IN A SINGLE HIT I WILL DO ONE THOUSAND PUSH UPS!" the mini said, tears streaming down his face, hand against his head in a sharp salute and flattening his bowl cut.
"LEE!" the Jonin bellowed.
"GAI-SENSEI!"
"LEE!"
"GAI-SENSEI!"
Never had Yuuki wanted to die before but this was the first time she was honestly considering offing herself to escape from this hell. Why did the weird shit always have to happen to her?! Where was Naruto when the freaky shit happened?! He could take anything like a champ!
The two others from this Genin team seemed normal, though by the look of the one who was ridiculously pretty - even more pretty than Shikamaru which was messed up and totally not fair - he was a Hyuga. So that meant milky eyes that lacked any pupils, long hair, and a chip on his shoulder. From the way he stood and the look on his face, a stick was lodged up his ass something fierce and gave him perpetual splinters in the anus. That would keep anyone unhappy.
The kunoichi was the truly normal one. No outstanding characteristics. Just dango for hair and a pink shirt that didn't look like it fit her in the least.
"Are you perhaps an Academy student?" the sensei asked Yuuki once he was done doing weird things with his student. His smile was damn near blinding.
She nodded silently, not sure if she trusted her voice to speak aloud.
"Perhaps you would like to spar one of my most youthful Genin to test the powers of your youth?!"
She really didn't want to but she didn't think she could outrun him. Not with the weights he had on under his orange leg warmers. He was no doubt way faster than a normal Jonin would be thanks to them.
"TenTen, please demonstrate your youthful skills for this young kunoichi-to-be!"
The girl stepped forward, an apologetic look on her face. "First to three injuries wins?" she offered.
"Fine." Get it over with. She would approach this as she did all the matches in the Academy. Except since her opponent was a Genin, using chakra punches on her wouldn't be unfair. So long as she didn't overdo it with the amount of chakra and the force she used to push it out then everything should be fine.
They took their stances and the Jonin raised his hand. "Hajime!"
"Go, TenTen!" screamed the mini.
Immediately, TenTen's go-to action was to throw a kunai, but Yuuki was already coming for her and snatched it out of the air with her free hand while rearing back her right fist for a punch. As her speed was deliberately downplayed, TenTen didn't think there was anything wrong with intercepting her attack by catching her fist. The problem was that she knew nothing about the chakra and the moment fist met open palm, the Genin was thrown back several feet, landing hard and rolling several times.
Immediately, her cheering teammate went quiet in chock, and the Hyuga actually looked interested then. Yuuki wasn't exactly physically imposing or anything as she was of average height for a kid her age(which was 152 cm) in her opinion. Her having that kind of attack power would make anyone pay attention though.
The Jonin remained pensive.
TenTen sat up and rolled her wrist with a wince. It wasn't broken though since she could move it so freely. "You hit really hard. Did I feel chakra in that?"
"Yeah. Not too much though. I didn't want to break anything, but take this as an example to not get hit again because I could break a teen's jaw when I was eight and I've only gotten better control since then."
"First injury!" the Jonin announced.
"Right!" TenTen flipped onto her feet and pulled out a scroll where she released a kusarigama with a deadly looking point at the end of the blade. "I'm not out yet!"
Yuuki had never faced anyone with anything but a kunai or shuriken, and non-shinobi were not allowed to purchase shinobi weapons, and she didn't have any family who could do it for her, so she had nothing on her but the kunai she'd caught.
The sickle side came flying at her head, and she managed to miss it by raising the kunai and allowing the chain to wrap around that instead. Then, with Katon Chakra pooling in her palm, she grabbed the chain with her free hand and forced her chakra down the metal, heating it. The numerous uses of having Katon Chakra were not lost on her.
Immediately, the chakra-conducive metal heated and stretched all the way back to TenTen's hand, burning it and forcing her to let go with a hiss. Her palm was smoking a bit.
"Second injury!" the Jonin announced.
"Dammit!" the kunoichi hissed.
Wanting their match to be finished quickly, Yuuki tossed the weapons away and engaged TenTen in immediate hand-to-hand combat. The two ducked and parried back and forth for several minutes. TenTen was very good but not as good as Hinata even with almost a year of Genin experience on her side. t was obvious that Taijutsu wasn't her area of expertise. Hinata was a fucking beast and was the best girl in their class when it came to Taijutsu. She went toe to toe with Sasuke easily and both rarely came out of their matches looking tired or being winded. And Yuuki had fought and lost horribly to both before and this was nothing like that.
Up until that moment Yuuki had been using the Academy Style of Taijutsu. At the last second, she switched up her stance and opened her fist, landing a solid, open-palm strike to TenTen's middle in a move she'd adopted from watching Hinata's battles at school and then fiddling with to fit her style more.
"Third Injury!" the Jonin called. "This match is over!"
"Damn, you're good," said TenTen with a sigh. She rubbed at the ache in her stomach with a visible wince. "What's your name again? I don't think we asked."
"Yuuki."
"YOUR YOUTH SHINES BRIGHTLY, YOUNG YUUKI-SAN!" the Jonin exclaimed, making her blink and wonder if she could go Deaf from hearing his shout. "SUCH SKILLS! YOUR CHAKRA CONTROL IS VERY FINE TO BE ABLE TO UTILIZE THOSE CHOICES OF MOVES IN BATTLE WITHOUT HESITATION!"
He was a very excitable person.
"Though may I suggest learning how to better guard yourself," the man went on to add, becoming serious instantly. "Your form is decent enough but it's quite obvious without the chakra punches you would have had a much harder time in this fight. Where is your placement in Taijutsu class?"
"Sixth overall," she confessed with a sigh. "Third out of the girls."
"G-girls?!" both TenTen and the mini sputtered at once. The Hyuga also had a brief moment of shock showing on his face but it was gone quickly. The sensei didn't seem shocked at all.
"...Do I really look that much like a guy that everyone I meet thinks I'm one?" Yuuki asked, growing tired of this running gag. "I'm wearing short-shorts. How many guys wear short-shorts? My thighs are very much on display right now and I don't know of any pre-teen boys who would dress like this." And she knew dozens upon dozens of pre-teen and teenage boys of all backgrounds and their parents would never let them dress as such because of some weird, preconceived notions on gender conformity.
TenTen flushed. "Sorry. My shock wasn't just that. The girls in my class never put this much effort in and if you're third best out of the girls then I'm curious to see the other two."
"Top girl in Taijutsu is way better because she's at least average in four Taijutsu styles and regularly mixes them to mess with everyone so they don't know which to guard against when sparring. The girl between us simply has better speed than I do so she's more elusive in her fighting style and harder to land a hit on." Chasing Ino around for several minutes could wear you out something fierce.
"It was a good fight still," said TenTen with a smile. "Best challenge I've gotten outside my team in a long time. If you ever need weapons when you graduate, come to my family's shop. I'll make sure you get a 20% discount." TenTen then handed over a card for the best weapons shop in Konoha. "We do special commissions too."
Damn! Maybe this hadn't been hell after all. Yuuki could finally get her hatchets she so longed for!
Of course she beat a Genin in a Taijutsu match one day and got her ass handed to her by her not-yet-a-kunoichi friend the next day in class.
Hinata, the ever-shifting Taijutsu expert that she was, decided to meld styles for today's spar and her hands had been so hard to keep up with! She'd shift from Juken to Goken faster than the blink of an eye. A fist would turn into a finger jab milliseconds before making contact and Yuuki kept on falling for it and barely managing to dodge. One strike landed right in the left tit for fuck sake!
However, the Hyuga knew mercy as she went straight for the arms after Yuuki stopped mid-battle to rub her throbbing breast. The action had brought a flush to Hinata's cheeks and made some of the other students cackle. Iruka merely gave one of his standard 'of course this is happening' sighs.
If the arms were disabled, many shinobi would immediately be down for the count and left open to attack from any side. And it wasn't just a few chakra pokes to the forearms, she hit the shoulders too so Yuuki couldn't even raise her arms at all to block from the pain. Having foreign chakra forced into your body suddenly hurt like hell.
Still, the brunette hadn't give up yet and managed to land one good kick to the girl's midsection, sending her skidding across the ring and almost out, but not quite there.
"That was a good hit," the Hyuga heiress complimented with a wince.
"Compared to the dozen you got on me, it's nothing. I'm going to be covered in bruises all afternoon. Can we stop now?"
Iruka sighed. "Not until you're out of the ring, Yuuki. You know the rules."
The rules were stupid. She gave up. She wanted it to be over. That should be it.
"You can't quit in real life fights, Yuuki."
With her nose in the air, Yuuki marched out of the ring, disrupting the chalk-drawn circle in the process to get her point across. if it was the only way to stop then so be it! The class snickered at her dramatic self.
The Chunin rolled his eyes and declared Hinata the winner. As usual. However, Hinata was at her side in seconds, pressing her fingers to the same spots she had in their spar and undoing whatever she'd done to Yuuki's tenketsu. "Sorry," the girl whispered. "I don't want to disrespect you by going easy on you."
"Oh, it's fine! At least I can put our medical training to the test and see if I can get rid of these bruises later. T'was a pleasure getting my ass kicked by you, my lady."
Hinata flushed and rolled her pale eyes.
He shouldn't be surprised really. As Yuuki had come to him personally to explain that she had a crush on him and might end up staring at him a lot at some point in the future, he should have expected that she would be the first to notice the minute change in his appearance. It didn't even take a minute of her seeing him again either.
"You look really good with piercings," she told him frankly. "The hoops really suit you. I'm kind of jealous. That kind of thing actually works with your appearance. It all feels balanced out now. You're lucky to have a very symmetrical face."
Shikamaru wasn't really sure how to take that. It was a compliment on his appearance, but also sounded a bit like a dig at her own appearance.
"Why don't you get your ears pierced if you like them that much?" Choji suggested around a mouthful of chips.
Yuuki winced. "Eh… there'd be no point. On one hand that's not cheap and my money can be put toward things that are actually important. On the other hand a couple piercings aren't going to make me pretty or whatever. I see no benefit to me in this regard. It isn't necessarily a need in life so what point would there be in getting such work done?"
Shikamaru sighed, not liking the fact that he didn't understand exactly what was going through the girl's head. That was one thing that was similar between her and other girls at least. He had no idea what the hell they were thinking when it came to this kind of thing. "You can do things simply because you enjoy them, you know. Joy is a benefit too. You don't need to do stuff with the need to 'become pretty' or whatever. You can do it because you want it and don't need any other reason beyond that."
"But is it really a benefit when the cost, which again isn't cheap, is going to haunt me for days as I rearrange my spending habits to compensate for it?" the girl asked with rhetorical finality. "I might even cry with regret hours after the deed is done. I don't like crying. Or spending money."
He didn't really know what to say to that.
"I had to dip into my savings this year 'cause of that hospital visit and the medicine I needed. I don't have insurance and can't apply the best kind until I'm a Genin, so I had to pay out of pocket for everything. And hospital bills are trash. Visitation, the emergency room stay, seeing a doctor, taking up bed space in the emergency room, the ultrasound and materials involved, the pain meds, the prescription for the cysts, and taking up the hospital's time in general all came out to a little over 50,000 Ryo.
"Those exact things were listed in order of most expensive to least expensive on the bill they gave me. The bill ended up blowing 1/7 of my total savings that I need to last through my first year as a Genin since Genin don't get paid shit worth living on and my apartment won't be free the moment I'm a legal adult and no longer getting a stipend from the orphan fund or the recompense from Komatsuzawa's attempts at goading me into suicide."
It had been a lot at once, and though he grasped it all clearly with no trouble, he was still stunned by how quickly she had gotten all of it out. And in one breath too.
Also… he hadn't known not having health insurance made things that bad for people.
And the level of poverty she was at was concerning. And even more concerning, was the fact that she and Naruto got the same stipend amount, but she got more money monthly because her former bully was forced to give her his weekly allowance until she was a legal adult. So if she was just on the cusp of being homeless at any given time if an emergency happened, how the hell was Naruto making ends meet? And how would he manage once he finally graduated?
Shikamaru was very concerned for his friends and their well-being. Why were things like this allowed in the most prosperous of the shinobi nations? Konoha was supposed to be more advanced than everyone else. They were supposed to have better opportunities.
Back onto the topic that sent Yuuki on such a long rant in the first place though… piercings. "When's your birthday?"
"May. Why?"
That had been months ago. He'd never thought to ask for her birthday even though she'd wished him a happy birthday early last week so she wouldn't forget to since she didn't know the actual date of his birth. He felt a little bad about it now. "I'll take you to get whatever you want pierced as a late gift. I'll pay for the piercings, jewelry, and the disinfectant you'll need," he decided.
Yuuki's head tilted a bit as she stared into his soul. Her dark eyes were intense and seemed to sparkle a bit. Slowly, a small but sweet smile spread across her face. An expression he'd never seen from her before as genuine interest took over and her perpetually bored look disappeared.
In that moment, Shikamaru realized that his seatmate was pretty. Not like Ino or Hinata of course but if a genuine smile could turn her whole resting face around, then she had to be pretty and just unassuming all the time.
"Thank you, Shikamaru."
A/N: Another chapter is done!
How was it? Let me know.
Ja ne! :D