Chapter 7: An Orphan in the Ring

Arashi stepped into the sparring circle and eyed his opponent. Dodate Kagetane had done nothing out of the ordinary during the previous tests. He was a student from a civilian family from what Arashi could tell and fit the trend of performing poorly compared to the clan students.

It was settled. Arashi would go for a quick takedown. The boy looked nervous and most likely didn't have any prior training or much if any fighting experience. He would play on his hesitation. Arashi also had another motive. He wanted a chance to fight one of the clan students for his second fight. Sensei had paired him up with another civilian most likely trying to be fair. But Arashi really needed to figure out how he stacked up against the more dangerous students. So, he needed a decisive victory for Sensei to pit him against a stronger student and, unfortunately for Dodate, he was going to serve as his springboard.

"Alight, as I explained earlier, the first to land 3 decisive hits or knocks out their opponent wins. No use of tools or deadly force is permitted. Ready?"

Arashi looked to Ishino sensei and nodded and looked back at Dodate making eye contact as the boy hastily nodded.

"Ok. Commence!"

Arashi quickly stepped forward, taking the initiative and closing the distance. Dodate stayed put near the edge of the ring, standing flat-footed.

Big mistake.

Arashi sped up and then gave a small feint left. The boy bought the feint and moved to counter but when Arashi changed direction to his right Dodate couldn't get his feet moving quick enough and stubbled. Arashi used this and swung his foot out, kicking Dodate's lead foot from under him, causing the boy to fall. Before he even hit the dirt, Arashi was on him, rearing back his arm to punch Dodate in the face.

"Point Arashi!"

Arashi barely had enough time to stop his fist before it hit Dodate square in the face. As he got up off Dodate he saw the fear in Dodate's eyes. Arashi felt a small pang of pity. He most likely has never gotten into a serious fight before this.

Two quick exchanges later and Arashi had won 3 points to null, leaving Dodate a nice sized black eye and bruised stomach. Arashi only suffered two glancing blows. Neither of which was enough for sensei to award any points to Dodate. As he walked over, he saw Ishino sensei writing something down in her book. Hopefully, that would be enough.

Walking over to his companions, he received a thumbs up from both Fumuro and Motomi.

"Nice job! You made that look easy."

"Thanks, guys, although I don't think Dodate has ever fought someone before, so it wasn't very fair."

He took his place next to Kochi, who regarded him with a nod. They stood in silence as a couple of other fights commenced and ended, including fights where Motomi and Fumuro lost their first match.

"I'm guessing you've had your fair share of fights?" Kochi asked him.

"Yes, I was always getting into fights in Tekan. I didn't typically look for fights, but when everyone wants the same thing, they tend to happen anyway."

"It looked like you weren't using a taijutsu style. If you fight one of our classmates from the clans, it won't be so easy." Kochi said. "They will react quicker and counter you."

Arashi met Kochi's gaze and smiled. "Something tells me you've also gotten into trouble. The way you moved in the obstacle course and race. You're different from Motomi and Fumuro."

Arashi was sure he saw a small upward twitch of her lips at his comment. In the past two days, he'd known her, he hadn't seen her smile yet. But she was definitely different from the others. She was quiet when the others were loud. She was observant when the others were distracted. She had a sureness when she acted that even some of the more experienced students in their class didn't have. The only thing she lacked, from what Arashi could tell, was clan training.

She would have survived in Tekan. Maybe even thrived.

"We should train together. I would like to learn how to move as you did in the obstacle course. And I think I can show you some taijutsu stuff as well." Kochi said, matching his eyes.

Arashi raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What can you show me in taijutsu?"

"Kochi Sanayoshi and Suya Kiyomo your next!"

Kochi looked back at Arashi with a sly smile and said, "Just watch," and moved to the sparring ring.

Arashi watched her stride confidently to the ring.

He watched as Kochi slipped seamlessly into a stance, standing with one foot in front of the other and a slight bend to the knees. She raised her arms up with her hands unclenched and relaxed. The girl she was facing stood upright with her fists raised and obvious fear on her face.

Kochi showed none.

"Begin!"

It happened in a flash. Kochi's opponent ran forward, yelling, raising her left fist and rearing back a haymaker. Just as she got within striking distance, Kochi made a small step forward and twisted, causing the girl's first to glide over her left shoulder, and Kochi's back hit the girl's chest. She then grabbed the outstretched arm, threw her lower back into the girl, and using the forward moment, flipped the girl over her and threw her to the ground.

Suya landed on her back with a gasp as her breath was driven out of her. She lay for a couple of seconds, gasping for air.

"Point one goes to Kochi."

Arashi smiled. Looks like she did have something to show him.

Kochi turned to him, still bent over slightly holding the last form her body took when she had redirected the girl's attack and sent her head over heels. One corner of her mouth inching upwards into a smile.

As she turned back to her opponent, who was just starting to stand back up, he had one thought.

This was going to be over quick.

Kochi won flawlessly. Arashi had watched her with bated breath meticulously beat Suya, her opponent not even getting a glancing blow.

After Fumuro and Motomi were done congratulating her, Kochi walked back over to him.

"I guess you can show me something. That was amazing! Where did you learn that?"

Kochi looked over at him. "I'll tell you later. But only if you agree to train with me."

"Of course ill train with you. Although, feel like I should be the one pleading, not you."

"Good, we'll talk more after class. But you should start paying attention again. Looks like you're up."

"Arashi helloooo! You're next. Get in the ring!" Sensei yelled, knocking him back to his senses.

"Yes Sensei. Sorry Sensei!" Arashi yelled back and stepped forward.

He didn't hear who sensei had said was his opponent, but a quick glance let him know his plan had worked. Standing before him was a boy with dark black hair and obsidian eyes. He had a red and white fan emblem on his shirt.

An Uchiha, if what Fumuro had said before was true.

"Take your positions and Begin!"

The Uchiha in front of him dropped into a stance, staying light on his feet with arms raised.

Arashi pushed forward like last time, eager to set the pace and control the fight. He rushed forward, feinting right, trying to draw out movement, and then sidestepped back left while moving forward into a punch. The Uchiha didn't bite, stayed light on his feet, and smacked his punch to the side, causing Arashi to stumble as his momentum wasn't halted like he expected from a connecting punch. Arashi's hair on the back of his neck prickled as his momentum carried him slightly past the Uchiha who had stepped up. Arashi quickly dropped down just in time to feel the wind pass over his head from a punch thrown by the Uchiha. He spun on the balls of his feet to see the bottom of a blue sandal coming right at his face. He hastily crossed his arms in front to take the hit and was thrown back onto his back.

Skidding to a stop, pain shooting through his arms, he uncrossed and looked back at his opponent, still standing with his foot extended.

"The same trick won't work on me, foreign boy."

"One point to Yanasho Uchiha." Sensei said to his left.

Standing back up and shaking his arms, Arashi walked back into the ring. The speed and reaction time was a huge difference between the Uchiha and his first opponent. A simple trick like he had tried wouldn't work. The Uchiha was faster than he was and Arashi didn't have the technique to challenge in a straight-up fight. Yanasho would just redirect, block, and counter. He'd have to try something else. He'd try a mental battle next to get him off his plan.

Arashi attempted the best angry face he could in reaction to the foreign boy comment. "This foreign boy is going to drag that crest on your shirt through the mud."

The Uchiha stiffened and snarled, "You're going to pay for that."

Well, that worked. Let's see if the emotion makes him hasty.

"Second round, Begin!"

Arashi moved to step forward but then saw the Uchiha sprint forward, quickly closing the ground. Arashi sidestepped out of the way, barely dodging the first punch and following sidekick. Leaping backward to get some breathing room, Arashi quickly planted his lead foot into the dirt and prepared to stand his ground.

Just as Yanasho got within a couple of steps and reared back his arm to bash Arashi's face in his foot flung up, kicking dirt and pebbles into Yanasho's face. Arashi ducked and twisted left, dodging the punch while glimpsing the Uchiha's other hand going to rub the dirt out of his eyes. Arashi planted his feet and then launched his body, shoulder first, into the Uchiha's side, lifting the boy off the ground a couple of inches and driving him into the dirt. Arashi landed on top of the stunned boy and without hesitating, swung down his elbow onto the boy's face, catching his lower jaw. Arashi readied his other fist but halted when a firm grip stopped his fist from moving.

"That's enough! One point to Arashi." Sensei said right behind him while she forcibly pulled him off his opponent.

As Arashi backed away, he noticed some blood on his elbow and looked back at the Uchiha on the ground, spitting out globs of blood on the dirt, tears in his eyes. Sensei was crouched over him, checking his jaw.

Sensei signaled to the medic, who rushed over, glowing green hands surrounding Yanasho's jaw. Sensei stood and turned, and with a cocked eyebrow, looking at Arashi and said, "that's it for this fight," and pointed to the next two girls to enter the ring.

Arashi walked back over to his group.

"Damn Arashi. Don't you think that was a bit much? You already had him on the ground, that was already a point." Fumuro said as he got closer. To his right, Motomi looked a little shaky and didn't meet his gaze.

Arashi winced. "Yea probably. I just…well when I had him on the ground, I moved without thinking." When you had your opponent on the ground in Tekan, you didn't pass up the opportunity to finish him. If you backed up, they could just get right back up come at you again. They could hurt your friends or take your food. But if you finished the fight the first chance, then they didn't come after you again.

It also served to send a message to the other goons trying to steal your food.

Arashi looked around and saw glances from most of his classmates. Some were fear, others were confused or questioning. The other Uchiha girl in the class looked rather angry.

He'd have to watch his actions more carefully. It was the norm in Tekan. But here, even though they were teaching them how to fight, there were limits. Some things were and were not acceptable.

He continued until he was next to Kochi, who met his gaze. "You noticed quickly that he was better than you at taijutsu, so you adjusted your strategy. You tricked him into a hasty attack."

"Yea, I had no chance in a stand-up fight, and after he had watched my first match he knew to watch for my feints."

"That elbow was overkill, don't you think? For a spar between classmates?" Kochi said with a raised eyebrow.

Arashi winced again. He'd definitely have to adjust and apologize. He sighed.

"It's better than hesitating though."

He looked over in surprise at Kochi. She had an approving smirk on her face.

"And whys that?" he asked.

"Hesitation will get you killed."

"Is that so? And what would you know about that?"

Kochi looked over at him. "Because it got my dad killed."

"Oh, I'm…. Sorry."

"Kochi Sanayoshi and Susho Inuzuka you're up next," Sensei yelled from beside the ring.

Kochi wordlessly walked past him to her next opponent.

When Ishino Magami had woken up early this morning to prepare for her first-ever class of academy students, she was filled with dread. She hadn't wanted to be pulled from active duty, but serious damage to her lungs caused by a poison cloud had all but ended her career. She could still fight, but because of her limited lung capacity, she didn't have the stamina to take part in long missions or intense physical activity for extended periods. So, her superior officer had recommended to the jonin commander and Hokage that she be taken off active duty and moved to the academy to train the next generation of ninja.

She had tried everything to avoid the new position. She had proposed several other options, including the cipher core, the wall guards, even the Leaf police force, but all had been rejected. She didn't have anything personal against the academy or the young future ninja. She just hated the idea of not seeing action, not actively fighting alongside her fellow ninja. The thought of being stuck behind a desk while her friends risked their lives filled her with guilt. Part of her also thought it would be exceptionally boring.

While still filled with guilt, the preconception of boring had been shattered today.

Ishino put down the class scores and leaned back into her office chair with a sigh. Only one day in and she already had a headache. Her class, much like most other first-year classes, comprised 60 percent of students from civilian families and 40 percent from clans. The leaf's non-clan population significantly outnumbered the clan population, so even though a much higher percentage of clan children join the academy than civilian children, they still outnumber the clan children in the academy. At least for the first year. She expected it would be 50/50 by the end of the first year and reversed by graduation. Civilian children dropped out at much higher rates either by their own choice or by the academies choice, believing that the child was not fit for ninja life.

Also, as expected, the clan students had dominated the tests. A clan student had the top scores for almost every test.

But what was unexpected and had Ishino rethinking her previous belief that her new job would be boring were two little exceptions to the clan children's dominance. Kochi Sanayoshi and Arashi.

Kochi Sanayoshi had outperformed the other civilian students by a large margin, including most males from non-clans. Her problem-solving skills on the written test were above average, her speed and endurance on the track were higher than most of the girls from clans, and her taijutsu was second overall in the class. She was currently situated 3rd in the class for females, the other two girls ahead of her being from the Uchiha and Hyūga clans. The only core skill she was lacking in was her shuriken and kunai throwing. But lacking was comparative. She still outperformed the majority of the class in that test.

Ishino had read her file beforehand, of course. She was an orphan. Both of her parents were first-generation ninja but had passed away two years ago on a mission. She had expected the girl would come with some training from her parents before they passed away, but they had been dead for two years. There is no way they could have gotten her to this level at the age of 5. No, Kochi Sanayoshi had to have been a diligent trainer. Even at such a young age and with the death of her parent she had continued her training for the past two years. The girl had to either be a natural or she was very mature for her age, being able to forgo playing around the playgrounds with the other orphans to train alone instead. And from what Ishino had witnessed today, she believed the latter to be the case. Not that the girl wasn't naturally talented or had above-average intelligence, she had both attributes. But from observing the girl's behavior and some of her very pragmatic answers to the written test, Ishino believed the girls' above-average skills to be attributed to maturity. She would be a student to watch. Ishino would have to continue to push her and give her challenges to ensure she doesn't lose that focus that she has shown so far.

Ishino put Kochi's file down and picked up the next surprise. Arashi.

Arashi was the biggest surprise and what was giving Ishino her current headache. When she had first seen his file, she had been skeptical. An orphan from Tekan. Very little was known about him due to only a small amount of observation. She had expected him to do poorly on the written test. With the complete lack of schooling the boy received in Tekan, it was no surprise he couldn't read. She had already added reading and writing classes to the boy's schedule that he would do every day after class until he reached an acceptable level.

The boy's kunai and shuriken were slightly above average. It was obvious he was athletic and knew how to throw, but he obviously had never held either of the tools before, let alone thrown one. His natural authenticity and hand-eye coordination helped cover his inexperience and lack of technique.

The three major surprises in order of greatness were the track test, the sparing, and the obstacle course.

Despite the boy's lack of a healthy diet, he had shown impressive speed and endurance. But what had surprised her the most was his ability to push past the pain. She had watched him consistently raise his pace, pushing his skinny legs harder. The boy's muscles and lungs must have been screaming and yet he pushed on. Most children his age don't have the motivation and willpower to push past their bodies' protests. This is only learned once they have experienced training and going to the limit. It's an ability gained slowly as their maturity and drive increase. But Arashi has shown that already. She had an inkling that the boy had already experienced much hardship and had pushed his body to the limit to survive Tekan.

The spar, on the other hand, had shown a darker side of Arashi. She had been warned in his file that care should be taken. But she had not believed to this extent. The first spar she had caught him in time. When pitted against another inexperienced fighter, Arashi had decisively won and other than the first point where she had stepped in to stop, he hadn't shown excessive force.

But against the Uchiha boy, it was different. As soon as he lost the first point, instead of getting agitated or reckless, it almost looked like he settled. She had watched as some tension left his body as he changed his strategy. Angering the Uchiha had been a brilliant move. It had only taken one exchange for Arashi to figure out in a straight-up fight he would have no chance, so he baited the Uchiha into leaving their game plan. When he drove the Uchiha into the ground, she believed he would stop. After she had stopped him in the previous fight, it looked like he had gotten the message. She had not expected the almost instinctive finish Arashi had delivered to the Uchiha. There was no hesitation, but also no malice. In the split second, she believed that Arashi hadn't cared about the point. He had acted on instinct to end the fight. To ensure his opponent wouldn't get back up. She had a feeling this immediate response was due to the Uchiha being stronger. The boys' experiences no doubt partly to cause for this response. She would have to address this with him. While it was good that he was decisive and didn't have a mental break upon seeing what he had done, it was also worrying that he was as brutal as he was to a fellow student and comrade.

Other than his use of excessive force, Arashi had shown good instincts during the fight. Even though he didn't have any formal training, thus no taijutsu style, he showed good fight intellect. She was sure he would turn out to be a proficient hand-to-hand fighter.

Arashi's display in the ring had paled compared to his performance on the obstacle course. It had been a work of art. She had never seen someone of his age move like that. The boy glided through the course, never slowing down, never second-guessing a move. The boy reminded her of how a leaf falls from the top of a tree. Effortlessly gliding down, twisting, and turning its way around branches, never getting caught. Changing its direction like it didn't have any mass behind it. Arashi had moved like that, making the more difficult obstacles look easy. Never exerting more energy or force than he needed to. Perfection. The boy had definitely spent a large amount of time running around his home city. And from what she knew about his background, she figured he was most likely running from someone most of those times.

When all the first-year teachers tallied up the obstacle times, Arashi had come first. Just barely beating out the blonde boy's time who one of her fellow teachers couldn't stop bragging about.

She put Arashi's file back gown with the others and leaned back in her chair with a sigh. Well, she may still prefer being out in the field, but at least it doesn't look like it will be boring.