"Katsu. You're slacking off again. I need you to follow along and practice your techniques."
Katsu had a big frown on her face and she looked up to her teacher. She played with her hands as she looked away. "I am practicing I promise."
The teacher frowned. He hadn't felt any sort of chakra come out from her the entire session. Originally he assumed she was slacking off and not following the directions. After all, how could a single student not expel any sort of chakra out of them? However, he did know she was indeed practicing the hand signs. It just so happens no chakra came out.
He was pretty certain she wasn't lying about practicing. Katsu never had caused any trouble throughout her time in the academy. Always a top student and getting remarkable grades for her written tests. "Are you sure? Do the hand signs again." He asked her softly, watching intently.
Katsu nodded and quickly copied the same hand signs taught to her. As she completed them, nothing had happened. Not even a puff of smoke had emerged. A large frown was present on the teacher's face and Katsu shrunk back.
"Hm…" The teacher put his hand on his chin, examining Katsu with such ferocity, she felt as if she was about to melt. "continue on practicing for now Katsu-Chan." He patted her head and walked away. Katsu watched as he walked back to his desk and frowned. Was she doing something wrong?
She looked down on her hands, doing the hand signals again for the cloning technique. 'Tiger, Boar, Ox, and Dog…' she thought. The writings and drawings on the board matched what she was meant to do. However, it never produced any results. Even some of the worst people in the class were getting puffs of smoke.
Katsu watched the other kids with furrowed brows. They laughed and practiced together. Staring down at her hands once more, Katsu narrowed her eyes. Maybe she was doing the hand signs wrong.
"Ah, Konishi-San." The teacher from before approached her father right as they were about to leave school for the day. "May I talk to you for a bit?"
Katsu's father nodded with a curious face. "What do you need?"
Katsu recognized the teacher as the same one who approached her earlier. She fumbled with her hands nervously, watching as the two adults talked. She wondered if she was in trouble for what had happened before. Katsu did tell her teacher that she was indeed practicing.
"I'd like to discuss this just between the both of us." The teacher glanced at Katsu and her father followed his gaze. With a nod of understanding, Katsu's father patted the top of Katsu's head.
"Katsu-Chan, why don't you wait out here for a bit, hm?" He asked her softly.
Katsu knew she really didn't have a choice and nodded. She dreaded for any trouble about to come her way later but for now she had to wait. Her father thanked her and the two adults left to walk inside once more. Katsu watched them quietly till they were out of view.
She frowned and decided to wait for her father on the swing outside the academy.
—
"Katsu."
A voice woke Katsu from her sleep. She had accidentally dozed off while waiting for her father. As she blinked the drowsy blurriness away, she looked up to find the owner of the voice.
It was her father. The air was tense around him as he held an unhappy face on himself. Katsu immediately woke up.
"Otou-San." She greeted her dad tiredly. The air was cooler than it was midday. The sun had set just recently and the sky was dark now. With a sigh, her father picked her up from the swing and Katsu welcomed the embrace.
"It's been a long day Katsu. Let's go home."
Katsu wondered what had the two of them talked about for her father to get in such an upset mood. As the two headed home, both of them didn't bother to speak. The longer they stayed quiet, Katsu's nerves flared up. She nervously picked at her hands as she glanced at her father to gauge his emotions.
However, her father had mastered a poke face. It stood still throughout the walk. When they arrived home, the tone of the air around them changed as Katsu's mother barged open the door.
"God, Takeshi! I was worried sick when I came home and both of you were gone!" She quickly took the tired Katsu out of his arms, still fuming. "I thought you both disappeared or something! Or you didn't pick up Katsu from the academy!"
She quickly turned around and narrowed her eyes at her husband. "You did pick up Katsu on time, right? You didn't make her wait there all day, right?"
Katsu's father brought his hands up in surrender, trying not to escalate the situation. "Calm down Rieko. It's just, I had to discuss a few things with her teacher. I wasn't keeping track of time…" he trailed off, his eyes turning towards Katsu in her mother's arms. "Rieko. We have to discuss a few things… about Katsu."
Katsu's mother caught his gaze and quickly nodded. "Katsu-Chan." Her mother whispered to her. "Let's get you to sleep, how about that?"
Katsu clung to her mother and nodded softly. A smile was directed towards her way by her mother and she was carried to her room.
—
"End! Hideki is the winner!"
Katsu felt the sting of bruises that have yet to appear. Mud stained her side as she slowly got up from the floor. In front of her was Hideki. Another student of the academy who had just beaten her up during combat training.
"Nice job Hideki! That kick was super cool!" Another kid approached and Hideki left the fighting stage to join his friends in a round of celebration.
Katsu was left to pick herself up, searing pain on her legs and arms. The match was heavily one sided. Katsu couldn't even get any time to breathe during the spar. She scowled to herself as she clutched her arm, squeezing her bruises.
She supposed she deserved the pain. She barely practiced her physical capabilities in fighting. And when she did, she dragged her feet throughout the sessions. It didn't really help that she was placed against one of the top students in combat.
"Katsu-Chan" a Teacher called out to her, concern lacing his voice. "Can I speak with you?"
Katsu's grip on her arm loosened as she turned to her teacher. A silent voice in her head hoped they were there to heal her bruises. But the ninja world is cruel and you have to learn to handle pain.
"I wanted to talk to you about your performance these past few months." Her teacher started out, reading a clipboard in his hand. Katsu tensed and avoided eye contact.
Her teacher handed a paper to her which listed all her scores and performances in combat. They were pretty disappointing, all of her spars being lost.
"I'm concerned about your abilities, Katsu-chan. It's already half the year and yet you haven't had any improvement in your marks in physical combat or ninjutsu." The teacher shook his head in disappointment.
Katsu clutched the paper in her hand roughly. Finally she looked up at her teacher, frowning.
The teacher gave her a long sigh. "I was just hoping I could bring this to your attention. If you continue on this path it's possible you could get removed from the academy before the end of the year."
Removed? Katsu didn't think she would ever be kicked out from the academy. She had hoped her good grades in the rest of the subjects allowed her to at least pass through most of the academy. Katsu swallowed. There's no way she would get kicked out. If she did, her father would kill her.
"Are you listening, Katsu?"
Snapped out of her thoughts she quickly gav her teacher a nod. He seemed to relax, a sigh barely escaping him once more. "If you need help, we have tutors and such after school."
Katsu quickly nodded. "Of course sensei… I'll look into them.." It was a lie. Katsu had no interest in actually learning any combat.
Her teacher gave her a smile before a loud shout interrupted them both. A group of boys began fist fighting one another in one of the fighting rings. Her teacher quickly stood up and left to deal with the situation. Left alone Katsu ripped up her performance paper
She didn't need anyone to tell her how skilled she was.
"Katsu!" A voice rang out to her as Katsu packed up her bags. Her arms and legs still ached from her sparring session and her irritation led her to completely ignore the owner of the voice.
"Katsu! Listen to me you dimwit!" The boy yelling out to her was named Jun. He was mostly an average student, coming from a civilian family rather than a ninja one. And though he excelled at combat…
"Katsu! I need you to finish my math homework for me!"
He failed general classes. He often sought out others to do his work for him. Especially with math. Katsu, already done with her day, turned around and began walking out of the school. The hallways were mostly empty as Katsu often stayed behind a little.
"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Jun yelled out angrily to her.
He ran up to Katsu, grabbing her arm. In reflex, Katsu panicked. She twisted her arm out of her grasp and turned to face Jun with anger.
"Will you leave me alone! I don't want to do your stupid math homework that your stupid brain can't handle!" She hissed at him, holding her bag straps tightly. The place Jun had grabbed hurt slightly from earlier bruises.
Her outburst seemed to inspire another one. This time from Jun.
"Who are you calling stupid! Says you, you're dead last in all the actual important ninja classes!" Jun stomped his feet on the ground, clenching his fist.
Katsu scoffed. "Yeah, sure but at least I know what 1+1 is! Even a civilian 3 year old knows the answer!" She stood up straight, glaring right at Jun. "You act like you're tough all the time, trying to act like you're a part of some clan or something. Well you're not! You're just a normal civilian!"
Jun suddenly leaped forward and Katsu felt time freeze for a moment. Suddenly her anger switched to fear. And though she could never be frightened by Jun himself, his combat abilities were another question.
Katsu was tackled downwards and it didn't take long for her to hit her head hard against the floor. She could see stars in her vision as she blinked to focus her view. Everything went by in a flash and she could barely remember a voice quickly calling out to her and a bit more yelling.
Katsu walked home with an ice pack
She wasn't sure exactly if she had a concussion or not but the nurses didn't bother to check. A nagging pain in her head lingered. Katsu really hoped this didn't end up coming to bite her ass when she grows up.
"Katsu, welcome home." Her father greeted her as she opened the door. Without a reply, Katsu walked to her room, slamming the door loudly.
