Chapter Thirteen: Chandan and Itama's Meeting
The teacher that Renjiro had found her during the winter was a man from Wind Country. His face was always covered in cloth, meaning she barely knew what his face looked like. Not that it mattered, he had already started on her on the basics, she was just glad her style wasn't like the Uzumaki's or she feared that he would kill her on that principle alone.
Kukikio had a feeling that he wasn't impressed with her, not since she was almost killed by a newbies bomb. To be fair, it was a seal that she had never seen before in her life. A bomber clan had created it.
"What did we learn?" Chandan asked her, dark brown eyes glaring into her own.
"Always check scrolls, even when their from an employer," Kukikio told him. She had learnt her lesson, next time Hashirama wouldn't be there to make sure she didn't bleed onto the snow.
"Good. You'll join me and my clan for the next four months."
"Yes, Chandan-sensei." She could tell that the next four months were going to be hell. But at least she didn't have to worry about Itama, since he had told her that he was being sent to their cousins, the Uzumaki's, to learn both healing and sealing. Something that'll keep him off the front lines for the rest of his life. She could only hope that no one attacked the Senju compound when he returned from his own training. After all, the Uzumaki's didn't join the clan wars, even through her teacher's clan hated them on principle, something about disagreeing about what responsibilities those who knew the sealing arts had.
Not that she cared. After all, she wasn't planning on joining any clans if she could help it. Chandan already knew this, he was teaching her because he owed Renjiro several favours and this was easy to complete.
"We'll continue with the basics," Chandan told her, walking father into the desert. Passing a scarf for her to wrap around her head, so that the sun didn't burn her skin. She had already changed into the light airy cotton of his people, the light peach colour reflecting the light. She thought she looked odd in the colour, but she guessed as long as she wasn't being baked alive she could live with it. "Once you've impressed the elders, we can start your training in cloth sealing."
"Yes, sensei."
"Remember, this style of sealing can be traced back to the first nomadic tribes. This style is almost lost to us."
'And it was forgotten,' Kukikio thought to herself. She didn't know how, but something had killed off most of the nomadic tribes, since they never wrote anything done. Cloth sealing become nothing more then a myth, along with blood sealing. She would have to start tracking down different styles of sealing, so she could write it down. 'Nothing like the present. Hell on earth, here I come.'
-Snow-
Chandan was a better teacher then Kakashi and Jiraiya, he was also a borderline slave driver. She was just glad that she would train with him four months on and off, since he didn't want to bring her with him when he went to Lightening Country. Her pale skin would stand out, and it wouldn't do her any favours.
Not that she was complaining, since it gave her time to perfect the seals he had already taught her, without the stress of having to have them perfected within a spin of a couple of weeks.
But she was surprised when Itama had asked her to meet him, the seal she had shown him allowed the two to write to each other with a diary. One she warned him to keep on his person, since the pages would appear to be blank to anyone who wasn't allowed to read it.
So with hers, only she and Itama could read the messages, she didn't know who could read Itama's, but she hoped that he kept it a secret.
"How's your training?" Kukikio asked, her qipao styled dress a dark blue. But she found that it was more useful in battle then her kimono had been, since she didn't have to worry about a belt being cut off. The only problem was that she had to start wearing black leggings and shorts, but that was the only problem. "You've grown, who said you could be taller then me?"
"The Uzumaki are scary," Itama told her, colour draining from his face. He wasn't lying, his teacher and Mito was scary. He was starting to see similarities between them and Kukikio, since they weren't to be crossed or your death would be a painful one. "But I've learnt a lot. Mito's taught me a sword style that works."
"See? I knew you could do it."
"Hashirama cried."
"Of course he did. But your safer and I'm not going to go any whiter."
"Whiter?"
"Who knows, if there's a will, there's a way."
"You?"
"Cloth sealing and binding."
"Never heard of it."
"Not a surprise. There's few tribes who know about it, but it's an old art. A pain in the ass, but worth it."
"Useful?"
"I'll teach you, once I've perfected the basics myself. Doubt I'm going to be a master of it. Not for a long time."
"Mito was surprised I knew the basics," Itama admitted. Hand going through the white of his hair. "Asked who had taught me, since it wasn't a style she knew."
'Of course not,' Kukikio thought. Jiraiya had taught her, and she had taught herself during the war. So her style was a mix match between several different ones. Through she didn't think the Uzumaki princess who have cared enough to ask, she didn't even know if the Senju clan had anyone who knew the sealing art, or that was the reason Itama's asshole of a father didn't blink twice when Itama asked to learn.
"But I didn't tell her. I don't want father to hurt you."
"Is that the reason she's scary?" Kukikio asked him. She didn't want to cause him any trouble, Itama was her little brother and the person who hurt him, better pray that something killed them before she got them.
Anko had taught everything she knew about torture before she was killed by a look-a-like. Dead people were the worst enemies, because they were hard to kill a second time.
Itama nodded. He didn't know why Mito wanted to know about Kukikio. No one else asked him any questions, he guessed they assumed that he taught himself before dong the smart thing. Even still, he couldn't risk it.
Not when he didn't know if they'd tell his father. It would put her life at risk, and he wasn't going to be the reason his older sister was hunted down and killed. She was one of the few that didn't compare him to his older brothers, who believed he was strong and could learn two difficult arts.
"So this is your teacher," a voice said, Kukikio's eyes going wide as she pulled him behind her. A sword in her hand as she swore under her breath. Bright red hair pulled into two buns, dark blue eyes staring at them. "And who would you be? Itama wouldn't tell me a thing."
