Coming to class with poison running through your system is an excellent time to philosophize. Anyone who disagrees is either a coward or a Hyuga. Weird milky-eyed cretins that they were. Especially smug branch house members who steal your patented Dirt Explosion Jutsu and can use it even better than you. Have I mentioned how much I support the caged-bird seal lately? Absolutely necessary for the good of Konoha.
Anyways… Philosophize might be a strong word for the thinking I've been doing lately. Figuring out ways to cover my ass is more accurate. I've been trying to nail down precisely what I can and should do about the future. The Uchiha, Obito, Kakashi and his dad, Minato, Kushina, Naruto, Itachi, Tsunade, and Orochimaru are all theoretically in reach. There was an argument to try and fix everything, the will of fire and all that nonsense. It seemed like a lot more trouble than it was worth.
I wasn't worried about would I or should I change the future. Things were bound to change whether I wanted them to or not. I just wanted to ensure I wouldn't screw myself over by the time Shipudden came around. The goal is to remove or weaken future enemies while strengthening my allies. Simple enough in theory but much harder in practice. We lived in a dangerous world. I could get someone killed just as quickly as I could save them. Doubt ate away at me no matter how useless I knew it was.
At least I was already making progress on my plans. The past six months have been excellent for Shizune. She's improved leaps and bounds from when I first met her. Faster and stronger, but the most crucial development had been her attitude while fighting. The sweet girl had started to break out of her timid shell. I was so surprised the first time she went for an opening that I almost let her break my nose.
It wasn't a complete change in temperate. She was still a cautious fighter. But it wasn't a hindrance, and that made all the difference. I counted my lucky stars that the Shizune was still sweet and shy everywhere else. My human stress ball wasn't allowed to get too independent. If anyone cared to know, Kurenai was still a vicious ass in and out of a fight. I'd be lying if I said she hadn't grown on me a little by now. The rude girl had flourished just as much as Shizune under my little tutoring program.
I wonder if mother felt the same sense of pride watching me grow. I wonder if she feared that my growth would get me killed. Maybe Shizune's timidness in a fight had kept her alive during the war. Maybe their growth meant they would graduate a year too early and end up on different paths. Maybe it didn't matter either way. The future wasn't set in stone, but I shouldn't consider it fragile enough that a couple of cracks would change the world—no point in worrying about the little things. I'd end up taking a sledgehammer to canon soon enough anyways.
Visions of using it on Hide popped up, and I had to shake my head to keep from smiling. Time had soured whatever sympathy I could muster for the Hyuga. I've sparred over sixty times and lost five of them. Hide didn't give me every loss, though he gave me most of them. I hated losing more than anything in this world, but that wasn't what bothered me. Kurenai and Shizune had gotten a couple over on me outside of class, and I still liked them. Not to mention all the times mother had beaten me bloody. I was well practiced in getting over my pride.
It was just different with Hide. I wasn't alone in thinking it either. His two clanmates despised him more politely than I thought possible. It wasn't just something specific to the two of them either. I'd seen what could only be a main branch girl nearly snarl at him as they passed down the hallway. He was a stain on the clan's pride, the Hyuga's defective prodigy.
You'd think the abuse would cow him or make him bitter like Neji. Instead, he was emboldened by it. Hyuga Hide was the smuggest little bastard I'd ever had the displeasure to deal with. Arrogant like a young Kakashi but hidden behind a thin veneer of civility. The truth was behind his smiles. After every fight, he'd grace his opponent with a soft grin and encouraging words. I could tell it was nothing more than an act. No one who had ever felt so powerless could out so clean. Kind eyes and sweet smiles meant nothing in a land of liars.
I hated my weakness for losing to the defect, and I hated him for hiding how much he loved it. It was strong enough for me to hurt my own growth. We should be dragging him over into our little group. I couldn't imagine how much better we would be with a prodigy like him pushing us. It wouldn't even be hard. Befriending a lonely child was as simple as sticking a hand out. It just wasn't meant to be. Seeing him be a social outcast soothed wounds I didn't know were aching. It wasn't like I was condemning the kid to a life of suffering. If he was a prodigy, his current pariah status wouldn't matter. Strength was all that mattered in this world, even for a branch member.
Sensei's voice cut through the cloud of anger I had puffed up. He was going through all the supplies we would need for our little 'field trip.' Camping in the woods ninja style, death, danger, and violence around every corner… was what I thought it would be when he first mentioned it months ago. Instead, we were spending a weekend in the Nara woods to hunt rabbits and dig holes to poop in.
"After this weekend, the first round of rewards will be sent out," Shigaki-sensei said, dropping a bomb just as the bell rang. Shizune and Kurenai grinned at each other in celebration. They were 7th and 6th respectively in the class ranking and would finally get their new kunai. I went back to glaring at Hide. I was ranked 4th in the class. That jerk had kept me out of the top 3 and taken the first spot for himself. It was hard to be excited about getting elemental training when private lessons were just out of reach.
Hide and I locked eyes for a moment. I started to turn a—wait a minute… did he just wink at me? Alright. I'm going to have to murder a child, maybe two if someone gets in my way. "Stop staring at him Rinko. You're embarrassing me with your desperation," Kurenai just earned another spot on my list with that. My glare should be answer enough for the traitor. She would be punished without delay.
"Shizune-chan would you like to go shopping with me and get our supplies?"
"Of course Rinko-chan. Let's go right now."
"What about me? Hey guys wait a minute. Slowdown! I still have to grab my stuff from home—Rinko I was just teasing you," Shizune giggled next to me as the voice behind us got fainter. If I grabbed her hand and dashed down the hall with a laugh… that's neither here nor there.
Shinobi villages are an odd mix of small towns and cities. The village has dozens of little sections that form their own communities. The kind where everyone knows everyone, and it functions closer to an extended family rather than thousands of strangers. But there isn't a big cultural difference between the different sections across the village. A neighborhood on one side of Konoha functions much the same as one on the opposite end. They believe in similar things, hear similar things, say similar things, and go about their lives in similar ways. The only exceptions are clans or trade families, but even they are well integrated into Konoha. What should be a mishmash of people and ideas all come together to form a perfect whole. It makes you start thinking that this will of fire nonsense might have some truth behind it.
Don't let the small town feeling fool you. The sheer size of the village is ridiculous. Massive is a gross understatement. Konoha proper stretches on for what seems to be miles. There are districts, woods, parks, and everything else you could imagine a city having. All larger than any equivalent I saw in my previous life. The damn clan compounds could be their own little towns. The largest of them have districts, woods, parks, and everything else too! It feels like every city that should exist in the land of fire was crammed into one. The anime doesn't come close to representing reality. I've spent days just wandering around trying to find everything I can in the village, and it'll be many more days before I even get an idea of where to go.
The walls alone would be a marvel of engineering in any other world. To us, it's just one of the many gifts left by the First Hokage. The lack of cars and my short stature might be inflating the village's size, but I doubt it's by much. Konoha wasn't even the biggest city in the land of fire either. Each country tended to have at least two. The ninja village and the capital where the daimyo lived. They were rarely targeted, even during times of war. I was assuming that it was one of those unspoken rules of shinobi combat. Villages were more than self-sufficient enough to survive on their own. Maybe the risk of attacking such a vast population was more trouble than it was worth.
I'd be lying if I told you the size of Konoha was my favorite part of it. This entire place is filled with gossip. Rumors and scandals spread faster than wildfire. Small ones might stay in their district, but stories involving jonin might as well be broadcasted on loudspeakers for how quickly they get around. You could hear them everywhere in the village.
Today wasn't any exception. Shizune and I had decided to go to a civilian market instead of a shinobi-focused one. Sometimes a girl just needed to shop around you know? The fact that shinobi ones were drab and droll only had a little to do with it. The Fire Quarter market was anything but. Thousands of people gathered in a loose amalgamation. Colors and shapes bounced around from stall to stall. Vendors called out prices and deals next to stores packed to the brim. Exotic spices and furs were sold next to farmers selling vegetables made a short walk outside the city. The noise of people living carried a beautiful tenor on its own. For a moment, part of the village had come alive. We floated along, sampling everything we could, basking in the energy around us. I loved crowds just as much in this life as I did the last.
I was haggling for fruit to Shizune's amusement when the mood shifted. A wave of silence flowed through the market until the only noise were a few scattered infants crying. It was only after years of dedicating myself to the Shinobi arts that I could pick up on the subtle hints of what had caused the change. Namely, the way everyone's head whipped in one direction, and the crowd parted down the middle. Revealing a man and child that I'd recognize anywhere.
This was my first time seeing the Hatakes. Kakashi was an absolute shrimp, especially when walking next to his dad. If the stares bothered them, neither one showed it. Aside from a bit of tiredness, Sakumo looked like a legend of the leaf instead of its pariah. The pair weren't anything interesting to watch. They bought groceries from a red-faced vendor and returned the way they came. A dull roar of whispers followed closely behind.
For a brief moment, I thought of calling out to them and breaking the spell that had taken over. Good sense and Shizune kept me from digging my own grave. The chances of me getting through to Sakumo enough to save him were remote, to put it charitably. Even if I did, I wasn't sure how good it would be for me. They were approaching biblical levels of infamy in Konoha. How many options would shut if I associated myself with them? I like betting on sure things, not tying myself to dying mules.
Having Sakumo in my pocket wouldn't be all that great either. I wasn't sure how strong he was. I just knew I would always come second to his son. I'm okay with being in second place if I have plenty to make up for it. It's a lot harder pill to swallow if the only option available to me doesn't put me first. Better to stay the course than to take a long shot like this. Shizune's reaction was the final nail in my good deed's coffin. The kindest person I knew looked at an unfair situation and was neutral at best.
I steered us indoors, away from the show. Less due to guilt and more because I'd spotted Kurenai in the crowd and felt she could use some more character growth.
Stepping into the store was like walking into Narnia. Leather scents and calm voices had replaced a blanket of tension. We were in a mixed shop of shinobi gear and regular merchandise. Though calling it mixed was kind. The shinobi gear occupied a single corner. It was dark and out of the way enough to feel rude. Cheap enough to make me want to keep coming back though. A couple of young shinobi stood out against the civilian shoppers. Mingling together like oil and water.
There wasn't any bad blood between the two sides, the opposite actually. Shinobi are heroes to the average person. Everyone knows that ninja are superhumans keeping Konoha safe and the will of fire burning. That didn't change the fact that either of the genin could kill everyone in this room, and there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it. A tame tiger would still scare the shit out of you in an enclosed space.
Shizune started browsing through clothes while I distractedly followed behind. I was stuck thinking about the genin on the other side of the shop. Could I take them if they wanted to kill me? If both came at once it would be a solid no. But just one of them? Maybe if they were part of the genin corps and particularly weak. I was confident I'd be able to poison them, especially if I didn't care about limiting the collateral damage.
My mind was racing, trying to piece together their capabilities and what I could do to kill them. The more I looked at them, the more I was sure they were in the genin corps. That didn't necessarily mean they were weak. It did put a cap on their skill level. What they were buying, wearing, their age, and how they held themselves all pointed to recent graduates. Probably the last graduation exam if I were to guess.
The genin corps wasn't as much of a dead-end as you might believe. The village had thousands of genin and only a few hundred jonin, counting tokubetsu jonin. An even more limited number of them would take on genin teams. It makes no sense to stop training the most prominent force in the village. They get much less effort put into them than the average genin teams. Most of their training came from specialized trainers that arrived once or twice a week. They'd help all the corps members that signed up. Not all of them took advantage or had enough talent to grow. Enough of them did that it remained a worthwhile investment for the village.
These two didn't look like they took advantage of much. I could kill them. Even if it broke down into a fight, I was sure I'd make it out alive. Kurenai's teachings gave me enough of an edge. Genjutsu is a rare art for any village. The academy has lessons and practices in dispelling it. But anyone calling it a priority would be a liar. I was confident in my ability to trap them once or twice. Even if they only froze for a moment, it would be enough to poison them. I could win a war of attrition from that point. I wouldn't make it out uninjured. It would be arrogant to think otherwise. But I'd make it out and they wouldn't.
Why even let it devolve into a fight though? A preemptive attack could kill them before the battle started. I was good enough with senbon to hit them simultaneously from a distance. If that wasn't viable, I had a contact poison that could work. I'd need to coat my hands and then get an excuse to touch bare skin, not impossible but potentially damning if anyone remembered the interaction. They would end up in the hospital a week from now. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be enough to kill either of them. I haven't gotten to that level yet in poisons. Moreover, all I have are well known to the village. Not exactly a good way to through off suspicion.
If only I could get Hin's poison cloud technique down. The notes she left were extensive enough to figure it out eventually. I just wish she hadn't disappeared off the face of the earth. It was to the point that I was beginning to think she had died like mother, and no one thought to tell me about it.
"What are you thinking about?" Shizune's soft voice pulled me out of my thoughts. She had a concerned look and bit her lip out of habit. Whoops… Apparently, going silent and tapping my fingers on a counter for a few minutes is noticeable.
It only took me a moment to gather my thoughts, "The White Fang and his kid. What do you think about it?"
Her face went blank immediately after the words came out. It was startling how sharp soft features can turn. The subject was touchier than I expected. Shizune turned out towards the window and dazedly watched people go by. In my past life, it would be a lot of thinking for an 8-year-old. Children grew up faster here and tended to be more mature. It seemed to be partly cultural and partly chakra based. It wasn't a super hard rule. You could find plenty of immature idiots. It just wasn't rare for kids to be much more intelligent than you'd expect.
"I don't know. What he did was wrong… I think it was. The village comes first. Always. I just wonder if the White Fang had been with my brother—my aunt always says that…" Shizune sought comfort in the floorboards as she trailed off. The blank expression had turned somber. My arms wrapped around her before she could school her features back into a mask of indifference. A heartbeat passed and then another. With the third came a shuddering breath and slender arms tightening around me.
There weren't any tears. Good shinobi don't cry. Even those who wear their heart on their sleeve. She didn't allow herself to be vulnerable for long. A tight squeeze was my only warning before she slipped out of my grasp. Unshed tears on a face that greeted me with a sunny smile were all that remained from the moment.
Determination shined through her once more and she stepped in closer to whisper, "Tsunade only talks about it when she's angry or drunk. It never lasts long. I can't decide whose side she's on. Sometimes she says Sakumo is a sentimental fool and sometimes she says every good shinobi would do the same. She's been arguing with the Hokage about it ever since Sakumo came back."
Shizune had barely gotten the last part out. Arguing with the Hokage seems sacrilegious to most jonin, much less an academy student. Interesting to hear but not much use to me. The Slug Princess would argue with a lamppost if it would give her the time of day. A few spats with the Hokage weren't nearly enough for me to guess whether she was about to abandon the village or not. I thought about trying to pry something more out of her, but a noise almost too light to hear came from the girl.
"What did you say Shizune?"
"How do you feel about… You know."
I think Sakumo was a fucking idiot who ruined his life over nothing. I could at least understand the reasoning behind prioritizing the lives of your fellow leaf-nin. Depending on the mission or who was involved I might make the same call. But on this one? A mission important enough that failing it villainized a man who was more renowned than the Sanin. He didn't even save anyone who mattered. A bunch of nobodies whose names were never mentioned a single time. However, it wasn't like I could voice any of these thoughts.
I ended up saying, "I'm not sure how to feel about him. I don't think he did the right thing. The will of fire is about sacrifice for Konoha. Everyone knows that. But I understand why he did it. If it were a bunch of strangers, I would've completed the mission no matter what. If it was you… I think I'd do the same thing as him."
Shizune went bright red and stared down at her feet again. A squeak came out instead of words which only inflamed the poor girl more. Her hands slapped against her face loudly enough to draw eyes from across the store. Luckily, Shizune was too deep in her own head to notice.
Bullying Shizune took the stress out of my day. I stood there, arms crossed and eyebrow raised, unwilling to give her an out. She was doing a remarkable impression of a fish behind bars. Mouth opening and closing behind a cell of fingers. What might've been the longest minute of her life passed entirely too quickly. She finally managed to look at me and say, "Me too." We shared matching grins for a moment before the door slammed open and an irate pre-teen barreled through it.
"I finally found you two! The class was so loud you must not have heard me yelling." I couldn't lock eyes with Shizune for more than a moment before laughing.
Verticality is an underrated aspect of shinobi combat. Most training and fighting take place on solid ground. It involves trickery, stealth, and dirty moves of course. But it still happens on a level plane. Many a shinobi, even the elite, have been lulled into only anticipating danger from solid ground. They think being aware of all their eyes can see is enough.
You would think that being from a ninja village would produce more paranoia in a person. The closest thing to safety a shinobi can get to is to be on guard from attacks from all angles. Above, below, and everything in between.
Sights, scents, sounds, and even the texture beneath your feet can give away an incoming ambush. Nature is an excellent target to pay attention to. Bird calls or the lack thereof can highlight a shinobi in the trees. Though the best wouldn't alert birds even if they stood on their nest. If we were against someone that good most of us might as well accept death. It was a continued annoyance that an unlucky day could kill me faster than my own choices. I'd long learned to bottle up that annoyance and use it productively in my training.
I could handle the stress better if my body wasn't another potential problem. Genjutsu is bullshit and we're all lucky that so few can master it. I'm good at sensing foreign chakra in my system, and it takes less than a second for me to dispel it. But that tiny bit of time can be life or death in a fight. Especially when we start going against opponents that don't need hand seals to trap you.
Thank goodness I was from a world without chakra. I could feel my own enveloping me like a second skin. Foreign chakra made its melody a discordant note that could be more distracting than whatever nightmare the attacker could dream up. Breaking out of them needed to become pure instinct if I ever wanted to take on a specialist, but it would be enough for now. I was by far the best in our class. Even the Uchiha took longer to escape than I did, and they were only up against the most basic academy versions.
The thought of those brats not having to worry about it once they unlocked the Sharingan roused a wave of anger in me that was quickly crushed. Sparring against Kurenai and Shizune at the same time was hard enough without me fighting against myself.
We were in one of the many wooded training grounds scattered across Konoha. It was much smaller than the others but reserved for genin and academy students. Shizune thought it would be fun to spar in the woods before we went on the camping trip. We decided on a 2v1 due to my skill in tree-walking. Not that it would do them any good.
The three of us had grown stronger, but neither had risen as steadily as me. Working yourself to the bone was a surefire way to make yourself stronger. If only I'd been lucky enough to be born with a dojutsu or even a normal kekkei genkai. Konoha might have pronounced me the fourth Hokage by now.
A rustle of leaves nearby forced my scattered thoughts into a keen edge. A rabbit with no shadow skittered past, and I whipped around the opposite way. I was rewarded by the sight of Kurenai charging toward me from the ground. When we locked eyes, the kunai left her hands but were easily batted away. A few of my own slowed her approach as I considered what to do. Shizune hadn't appeared yet, but that wouldn't last long. I could beat either of them 1v1. I was stronger and faster than both, even with my weight seals. The question was could I do it before Shizune came to even the odds? My lack of jutsu and refusal to expose my skills with poison hampered my long-range tools.
There was one little trick up my sleeve I'd been working on. I couldn't think of a better reason to use it than abusing Kurenai. A wave of shuriken flew through my sleeves and scattered across the woods towards the dark-haired girl. She was slower than usual in deflecting the few that came near, seemingly surprised by the move. Her hesitation was short-lived, unfortunately for her. She had halved the distance in three short bounds. I made her pay for it with a yank of my hand. Ninja wire jumped to life across the woods, and an ill-timed dodge allowed me to latch onto a leg and fling her across the ground. She bounced for a few moments before coming to rest at the base of a tree.
I burst away from my perch to finish her off. Shaky arms had yet to raise her body off the ground when my last wave of kunai impacted. Training kunai were blunted and specially designed not to maim or significantly injure. They still hurt like a bitch and could scratch like an alley cat.
A burst of smoke launched out of Kurenai when they landed. My vision turned sideways trying to see out of it. Genjutsu my chakra screamed. In the half-second I needed to dispel it, a kick to the side had already sent me flying. Ironic that the pain had dispelled the genjutsu only for it to start tumbling along anyways.
I escaped the danger with a one-handed spring into a crouch. Getting flung around all those times by mother was good for more than just her amusement. Two pairs of eyes glared at me from the tree line I was whipped out of. Shizune was covered in bruises and a nasty scratch on one arm, along with a doppelganger sporting Kurenai's smug grin. A tongue click was the only admission of annoyance I allowed them. Tunnel vision had cost me again, even if the trap damaged them more than me.
Better to confront my flaws now instead of in the field. I've got to keep a clear head and get better sensing. Dying because of not catching onto a trap as simple as that would just be embarrassing. I spat out the dirt in my mouth and grinned up at the girls. It was time to stomp some kids into the ground.
"Are you going to try and graduate?" Kurenai spoke as Shizune dabbed at the bruises on her face. I cocked my head at her and lifted an eyebrow in the universal sign of what? Kurenai continued right after, "Don't be nervous about it. You're already one of the best in the class. There's no way you won't pass and there's no way I won't either! If we graduate together we might even get on the same genin team… not that I'd want that or anything."
What the hell is she talking about? Didn't graduation take place six months ago? "Shizune what the hell is she talking about?"
"Rinko-chan you shouldn't say words like that. It's unbecoming of a kunoichi. And stop teasing Kurenai-chan. I'm trying to bandage her up, and you know how squirmy she gets when you mess with her."
"Yeah Rinko-chan. You know how squirmy I—ow Shizune! Be gentle please. You know I bruise easily."
A stern look was enough to discourage any more of Kurenai's shenanigans. Shizune was slow to anger, quick to cool down, and sweet all the time in between. When it came to medicine she was deadly serious. Tsunade hadn't started training her yet, but that didn't stop the girl from worshipping the ground she walked on. It had happened overnight a couple of months ago. She'd brought what looked like a homemade first aid kit until it was opened up.
The thing was filled with top-quality supplies and the insides were covered with seals designed to keep the contents safe and fresh. I was drooling at the prospect of having something like that for my poisons. The ones I had now would be fresh for a few days, maybe a week if I were lucky. But the timer started when I took them off the stove or out of the fridge. Even a few of those seals could extend the lifetime of my poison in the field to months at least.
I had half a mind to steal some when she wasn't looking. Tsunade didn't frighten me enough to dissuade me. The thought of Shizune crying over it brought me to my senses. Not to mention the fact that I might lose a valuable resource for something I could easily buy after I became a chunin.
"Stop swinging your legs and let me look at them." Shizune had snuck up on me and made her demands. I complied easily enough and let her go about detailing the little scrapes they had inflicted on me. None of us had come out of the spar scot-free. The would-be medic had easily gotten the worst of it. She wasn't covered head to toe in injuries, but it was closer to it than either of us preferred.
My trick with the ninja wire was far more effective than I could've expected. Months of work had finally paid off. If only I had caught Kurenai in it instead of cute little Shizune. I could tell she agreed with me by how roughly she handled my cuts. Hopefully, my ignorance would get her to focus on something besides causing me more pain.
"Why are you so concerned with graduating? We've got almost half a year to wait."
Kurenai snorted into her drink and gave me a droll look, "Yeah, yeah, okay. You won the spar Rinko. No need to be so sour about getting tricked during it."
"I'm being serio—wait did you say sour? You sure that isn't the sore loser in you projecting on a winner like me?"
"You talk real tough for someone with bruised ribs. Poor little Rinko-chan getting tricked by academy kids."
"I'm younger than you idiot. That little flea bite you gave me couldn't bruise an apple. Or is it hard to see the truth through that black eye?"
"Don't stick your tongue out at her Rinko. Kurenai sit down before she gives you another one. Now both of you shut up so I can finish."
Two mouths snapped shut quickly enough that a crack echoed through the room. I kept it together until Shizune let out a sigh that sounded like a disappointed parent working three jobs. We were laughing together a moment after, leaving us in a comfortable silence once it ended.
Shizune was the first to talk after she finished looking over me, "It would be nice if we could all stick together. I'd like to try this round if you two will." Kurenai quickly agreed with her, and both girls turned to me with hopeful looks in their eyes.
"Wait so is it not a yearly exam?"
Shizune's palm hit her face hard enough that Kurenai passed over another bandage.
AN:
Sorry about the wait. Busy season at work and I moved to a new place. I'll try to get the next one out sooner. I didn't have any trouble writing. I just had trouble finding time to write if that makes sense.
Let me know if you guys enjoyed it. I enjoy writing the story, even if I keep going off my guidelines. Rinko is a fun character to write. Sometimes she just causes scenes to pop up out of nowhere.