Shika to Kappa

Chapter 03

Call Me a Genius

"It's not like that! You gotta keep both arms steady!"

It was a breezy afternoon when Kawako and Ten Ten trained together. Ten Ten had set up a target on a large tree; she was asked to tutor Kawako in throwing shuriken. Although Kawako was surprisingly good at water element jutsu, she was terrible at taijutsu and any kind of weapon-handling. For Ten Ten, weapon-handling came almost as if it was natural from birth, so it was hard to teach Kawako, who seemed to not even know the basics.

"Gu…" Kawako threw a shuriken with an awkward posture. When the shuriken left her hand, not only did it not hit the target, Kawako also tripped herself somehow.

"That's strange… I don't know what the problem is…" Ten Ten folded her arms, making a frowning expression.

"Isn't it obvious? She cannot even balance," said Neji, who had been watching with sharp eyes "She's not properly trained; she started learning ninjutsu before knowing the basics. Just leave the rest to the ninja academy; don't waste your time, Ten Ten."

"Hey! I'm not weak!" Kawako pouted. "I can balance too! I'm just not as good at it when I'm standing. It doesn't feel the same as when I'm in water!"

Lee came over and patted Kawako on the shoulder, giving her a cheerful smile. "You're not weak, Kawako-chan! You fought pretty well against me last time! You jumped around like a frog!"

The four teens fell into silence. Neji looked at Lee and Kawako and shook his head without saying anything, and then he walked away to practice his own ninjutsu. Ten Ten, who was running out of gas, looked into the distance where their teacher Guy was. He was talking with Iruka-sensei, who had a very troubled look on his face. Thankfully, they seemed to be finished with their conversation, and Guy was coming back to his team.

"Sensei, what were you talking about with Iruka-sensei?" asked Ten Ten.

Guy grinned with a proud look on his face. He walked over to Kawako and slapped his palms onto the girl's shoulders. "Congratulations, Kawako-chan! Iruka-sensei is giving you a chance to graduate early!"

"WHAT?!" Lee and Ten Ten exclaimed.

"Are you serious?!" Kawako also perked up at this message. "So that scar-face finally came to his senses?!"

"Kawako-chan, manners, manners!" Ten Ten whispered.

"Yes! Yes! You will just have to perform three different tests that your judges are going to give you! This has already been approved by Sandaime-sama, so you don't even have to stop by the academy anymore! Just go to the academy this Saturday for your test!"

Kawako beamed. "Hurray! I'm finally going to be a ninja!"

Lee and Ten Ten congratulated Kawako. However, it was still mind-boggling to Ten Ten why Kawako was giving this special chance. "I wonder why this happened. I know that there were geniuses who skipped grades, but never all the way to graduation…"

"Maybe I'm a genius!" Kawako laughed.

"Actually, Iruka-sensei came and told me that the school was getting too many complaints from the parents about Kawako-chan's misbehaviors, so the school wanted to get rid of Kawako-chan as quickly as possible," said Guy, "Ah, how beautiful is youth! Being an outcast in school, but never stops working hard toward your dream of becoming a ninja—Kawako-chan, you are such a great kid!"

Watching Guy burst into tears, two streams of tears also came flowing down Kawako's eyes. "That's because you're such a cool teacher, Guy-sensei!"

"Kawako-chan!"

"This is…so…touching…!" Lee sobbed as he watched his admirable teacher's strong tears fall.

"Ugh… it's my day-off, so why do I have to come to the school and do something like this…?" Kakashi mumbled.

In the empty quad outside of Konoha's ninja academy stood three jounins—Hatake Kakshi, Sarutobi Asuma, and Yuuhi Kurenai. They were asked by the school to give our special little main character, Kawako, a promotional test so that she could graduate early. It was really just an intention to get rid of the trouble-loving bully of the school, but they also needed a proper excuse.

"Sorry, Kakashi-san, we had to find jounins who wouldn't be biased in this test. We would have asked Guy-san, but since he took Kawako in as his pupil, he might have a little bit of bias…" Iruka explained apologetically.

"It's all right, Iruka-sensei," said Kurenai kindly, and patted Kakashi lightly on the shoulder. "It shouldn't take too long; I heard from Guy that she's superb!"

"I would like to take advantage of this day-off, too…" Asuma said, "Although I am a little interested. I've been hearing a lot about her from Guy…"

Speaking of the devil, Saga Kawako walked in to the school, followed by Naruto and Chouji.

"Naruto? What are you doing here?" Kakashi asked, thinking that more troublesome people had come to ruin his day-off.

"Chouji? I thought you were going to Shikamaru's house today," said Asuma when he saw his student appear at the school.

"I was *crunch* but I got bored *crunch* because Shikamaru was playing shogi *crunch* with his dad…" The boy named Chouji said through a mouthful of potato chips, meanwhile stuffing in more. "He didn't even notice when I left *crunch* and then, I saw Naruto eating at Ichiraku *crunch* so I joined him *crunch* and then, this weird-looking kappa girl appeared and Naruto seemed to know her *crunch* so we both followed her here…"

I'm envious of these kids and their carefree lives… thought the three jounins.

"Kakashi-sensei! Iruka-sensei! How come you didn't tell me that something this fun is gonna happen?!" Naruto said with excitement.

"This is a test, Naruto," Iruka said, "It's okay if you guys wanted to watch, but don't distract her."

"Don't worry, Iruka-sensei! She won't get nervous or anything; we just became good friends on our way here!" Naruto grinned in reassurance and turned to Kawako. "Right, Kappa-chan?"

"Yeah *crunch* kappas are funny creatures!" Chouji mumbled.

Iruka put his hand over his face.

"My name is Kawako, not Kappa-chan," Kawako corrected, glancing at Naruto from the corner of her eyes. "But thank you for the compliment."

"All right, Kawako-chan… let's get this started…" Iruka said tiredly.

"OKAY!" Kawako spun around to face her judges. She looked at all three of the jounin with some sort of admiration. She gave them her best confident smile and said, "Come at me! I'm ready for anything you want to test me with!"

Kurenai was the first to laugh. The girl's appearance didn't look any younger than her three students; however, the naivety that emits from the girl gave Kurenai an impression that she was all in all a good girl. Also, her enthusiasm reminded Kurenai of her student Kiba.

"Okay, Kawako-chan, I'm never given this kind of exam before, but I will give you the test that I had to take when I graduated from the academy," said Kurenai, "Henge no Jutsu! Transform your appearance into me, and you'll pass my part of the test!"

It was a fairly easy test. After all, this test was meant for a child to advance to a genin, so Kurenai didn't want to make it impossible. She also heard from Guy that Kawako wasn't very great at techniques that are not water-element based. Normally, techniques of any element would've been learned after the basics that you learn at ninja academy. It's strange that Kawako had it the other way around, but basics are basics and all genins need it as fundamentals for their future training.

"Mu…" Kawako first looked troubled by the task, but raised her hands to form the seal for the technique. "…Henge no Jutsu!"

Kawako performed the seal slowly but correctly. A puff of smoke covered Kawako from bottom up, and as the smoke faded, Kawako's appearance had completely changed.

"Puwah-! COUGH, COUGH, COUGH-!" Asuma choked on his cigarette.

"Her attachment toward kappas is really amazing…" Kakashi muttered.

Kurenai put a hand over her face. Although Kawako had successfully transformed into Kurenai, she did not bother to transform her attire at all. Kurenai's adult body stretched Kawako's dirty rags to its limit, and the dish and turtle shell remained at their usual places. Stifled laughter could be heard from where Naruto and Chouji stood; Kawako turned toward the two boys and gave them a thumbs-up with a grin much like Guy and Lee.

"Okay, okay, that's enough…" said Kurenai, covering her flushed face and frown with her palm, "You pass, now turn back to yourself; I don't wanna see myself in that form again…"

With another puff, Kawako was back to her normal self.

"Ahem…" Asuma cleared his throat, his face a little flushed as well for some unknown reason. "All right, um… I don't really know what to test you with, but how about you just show me your best technique?"

Kawako's eyes lit up. "Oh, of course! You want to see my super powerful Water Element techniques?"

"Yes, yes, go on…" for a moment, Asuma realized the reason why Guy volunteered to take this girl as his pupil.

"Okay, prepare to be amazed!"

Kawako began to make seals with her hands. At first, the three jounins were a little bit speechless at how slowly the girl was at hand-seals. However, after a few seconds, they began to widen their eyes in astonishment; especially Kakashi, who recognized the hand-seal combination. Forty-four hand-seals are required to perform Suiryuudan no Jutsu (Water Dragon Bullet Technique), a highly difficult water elemental technique that only skilled ninjas could perform. Kakashi remembered facing that attack from Momochi Zabuza on a mission from not too long ago. If it weren't for his Sharingan, it would have been really difficult technique to learn. Could a mere twelve-year-old really perform it?

After almost a minute, Kawako finally finished making the seals. Kakashi mentally noted that although she was slow, she made no mistakes with all of the forty-four seals. But he realized one major problem: there is no body of water around the school.

"SUITON! SUIRYUUDAN NO JUTSU!" Kawako shouted out from the top of her lungs.

The three jounins held their breaths unconsciously while waiting for something to happen. However, for a long while, no dragon or even water came into sight. When Kakashi was just about to call her out on it, the lid of the dish on her head trembled. He leaned down closer at the dish, and finally, something pushed the lid open.

A small water drago—no, more like a big water earthworm, pushed with all its might to get the lid off of its head.

Kakashi felt weak in the knees. "Well… the lack of water is a problem. Technically, you have not made any mistakes on the technique itself… but next time, please observe your surroundings…"

Kawako slammed the lid back down on the dish. "It's not my fault that Konoha has a freaking drought."

"Don't say that… you'll piss off Sand Ninjas…" Asuma coughed. "Well, since it's a pretty difficult technique, I guess you pass…"

"Woohoo!" Kawako threw her hands in the air. "Two down, one more to go!"

"Don't celebrate just yet," Kakashi stepped forward. "It's my turn to test you now. I'm going to ask you one question, and if I don't like your answer, I won't let you become a ninja."

That silenced Kawako immediately. Naruto swallowed hard and listened in on this one as well; considering the bell-stealing test that Kakashi gave his team before, Naruto expected his teacher to come up with something out of the ordinary for Kawako. Asuma and Kurenai also looked at Kakashi expectantly, interested in what kind of question he was going to ask.

"The question I want to ask you is…" Kakashi looked Kawako straight in the eyes seriously. "Why do you want to become a ninja so badly?"

Kawako blinked.

Very good question, Asuma thought to himself. On the surface, it sounds like a relatively easy question to answer. But depending on her answer, we can see the extent of her resolve and even a little bit of her background. It's quite important to get some information out of someone who had just come into the village without any identification.

"When I became a shinobi, I swore an oath to protect my village. Konoha is my home and its villagers are my family. Protecting the village is the same as protecting ourselves…"

"Hm?" Kakashi did not understand Kawako's utterance.

"Dangame told me that those were my mother's last words," said Kawako, her eyes were clear of any intention of deceiving. "Dangame said that my mother's last wish was for me to reunite with Konoha. I wanted to come and see the village that my parents died to protect. I wanted to know why my parents chose a ninja's duties over raising a child. I thought that by becoming a ninja, I could understand."

Kakashi stared at the girl silently after listening to her answer. Beneath that twelve-year-old appearance, he saw a little child who knew nothing. A child who grew up without any contact with humans, and is eagerly trying to understand her own kind.

"Have you found out anything so far?" Kakashi asked.

"You said you'd only ask one question, gramps."

"Just answer my question! Do you want to graduate early or not?" Kakashi grumbled, a little worried that the 'gramps' nickname was going to stick to him. It didn't help that Naruto and Choji, and even Asuma and Kurenai, had to stifle their laughter.

"Hmm…" Kawako put a hand to her chin as she contemplated the question. "I like Guy-sensei and Lee-kun a lot, and the Sandaime old man…."

"I see," Kakashi's right eye curved into a crescent shape, showing a smile. "Would you risk your life to protect them?"

"You're crossing the line here, gramps."

"You are crossing the line, Saga Kawako…"

"I'll drown the enemies with my super strong amazing water techniques!" Kawako put both hands on her hips and raised her chin up in the air. "Guy-sensei said that dinners taste better when a lot of people are eating together! Guy-sensei, Lee-kun, and I will eat dinner together every night! Of course, Naruto and everyone here, including you gramps, can join too! I don't know about you, Choji, you eat too much…"

"What did you say?!" Choji squinted his eyes into small slits, waiting for Kawako to say the taboo word.

"Haha. Okay, okay," Kakashi chuckled lightly and stepped in between Choji and Kawako. "You pass, Kawako."

Kawako widened her eyes and stars sparkled inside her dark pupils. "REALLY?"

Kakashi nodded.

"Congratulations, Kawako," said Iruka as he approached her with a Konoha forehead protector in his hand. "I didn't have any doubt that you'd pass this test."

The corners of Kawako's mouth stretched from one side of her face to the other. She grabbed the forehead protector from Iruka and tied it around her head right away. Along with the dish on top of her head, Kawako's head was now filled with "accessories." She twirled around and put up a peace sign towards Naruto and Choji. The three jounins let out soft laughs through their noses at the girl's kiddy behavior.

"Was that really an acceptable answer, Kakashi?" Asuma asked in a voice only audible to Kakashi and Kurenai.

"Isn't it fine?" Kakashi shrugged. "She answered honestly. Even though we can't tell if she'll be loyal to Konoha, it's pretty clear that Konoha is the first place that she has been to with humans. It would be good to raise her up in Konoha as the village's shinobi while she is young."

Kurenai nodded in agreement. "Even though her level in basics and taijutsu is below average, Guy-sensei has already volunteered to train her in those areas. For now, her exceptional skill in ninjutsu can make up for that, and who knows how much stronger she will get once she grows older and attains more chakra…"

"…For now…" Kakashi muttered as he looked on toward the young girl.

Naruto was the first to pat her on the back and congratulate her. "Good job, Kappa-chan! I didn't know you were this good!"

Kawako beamed at the compliment. "Of course! I am a genius, after all!"

"Hmph!" Choji stuffed a handful of potato chips inside his mouth, still a little bit annoyed that Kawako almost called him fat. "That's not impressive at all! The real genius is Shikamaru! He even has an IQ of 200; you don't even come close, kappa girl."

"Who's Shikamaru?" Kawako turned to Choji. "Your pet deer?"

"Shikamaru is my best friend!" Choji popped up his chest and smiled proudly as he brings up his best friend's name.

"Hmm…" Kawako cocked her head to the side in thoughts. Then she stepped toward Choji and pulled his sleeve. "Hey, I wanna meet this Shikamaru. Let's find out who's the real genius between us!"

"Oh?" Naruto's eyes lit up. "That sounds interesting!"

"A challenge…?" Choji thought about whether or not Shikamaru would accept a challenge from a girl, or even consider taking a challenge concerning his personality, but Choji shrugged before he came to a conclusion. "Sure, why not! Shikamaru will definitely win, though!"

"All right! Let's go to Shikamaru's house!"

The three youngsters skipped and ran and frolicked away from the Ninja Academy. The three jounins and Iruka shook their heads. They briefly remembered their younger years—the years that they were fearless and their minds were strong. But once you become an official ninja, and once you are thrown into a real battle, pain and suffering will stack up on you.

Kakashi stared at the retrieving backs of Kawako and his very special student Naruto even after Asuma and Kurenai have taken off. Naruto was slowly starting to make more friends. While Kakashi was happy about that fact, there is still an unshakeable anxiety inside him.

"Let's just hope that… she doesn't find out about the Kyuubi inside of Naruto anytime soon…" Kakashi mumbled.

To Be Continued

A/N: Sorry for the long hiatus! It's taking a while for me to complete the basic storyline of this story. I didn't like the storyline I had before, so I had to change it completely.