(A/N): Another fast installment in the series. I want to remind you guys again, that despite the rather rapid pace with which i'm updating this story, it won't be like this forever, I've merely had some downtime and consequently now have enough time to dedicate to some fanfiction. But enough of that. On a side note, it truly rocks seeing the ever-rising numer of views, favorites, follows and reviews. So, thank you a lot for that!
In this chapter, Michi continues her primary development, discovering a few things and meeting certain someone's, one of whom will likely be a fixture of the story. That's all, and please read on at your leisure. Cheers & Thank you!
Owl-Nin Michi
(道): Japanese unisex name meaning "pathway."
"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." ― C.S. Lewis …
"Hear, Hear! The gospel has been spoken!"― Tea agreeing protagonist.
Thud
Thud
Thud
Well, at least all the shuriken hit something.
Even if it wasn't the target.
I look at Father, who's observing my throwing skills, noticing that he's looking a bit twitchy. Hmm… something wro–
"Ups…" I've got nothing much else to say really. Father is bending his spine in what looks way too cartoonish, apparently only just avoiding a rather unwittingly deadly throw. Hmm, that could have gone better I'll admit.
Father thinks so too, if his 'We're not amused' expression is anything to go by.
"W-why don't you stick to kunai and senbon, at least for a little while, okay darling?" He almost pleads, because he knows very well that he can't deny me anything, if I but ask for it.
I concede to his greater wisdom and move on, picking up my kunai. Now kunai, those I at least won't mutilate allies as well as enemies with when I throw em.
Th-thu-thud
And they're sticking out of their target. No primary hits mind you, but solid enough to hurt you. I steal a glance at father and upon seeing his approving nod, know I've done alright. I move to pick up the senbon.
Readying my stance and off they go.
T-thud
Waaaaaay better than the last two weapon attempts. I threw them in such rapid succession, that there was almost no distinction between when each senbon hit. It's a good feeling, especially as one of the senbon is sticking out of the targets neck, while the other two hit somewhere inconsequential, but they're a hit nonetheless.
Now, this time, I just look smugly at my father. And wonder wonder, he's smiling proudly at me.
Since I started practicing throwing weapons some six months ago, when I had my third birthday, I've always preferred the senbon and to a lesser extent the kunai. I've already given up on shuriken, meh who need's them anyway? They're just stupid star-shaped pieces of crappy sharp metal. Yeah, I might be a bit miffed that no matter what I do, I still suck at throwing those pesky little stars. But oh well, it matters little now that I've found my burgeoning skills in the senbon arts.
So senbon slash kunai practice it is then.
A couple of months went like this.
Get up, get dressed, in which by the way is black shorts and a purple industrial quality t-shirt ending with a pair of standard issue kid shinobi sandals, black. So all in all, very low-key, but still durable for their purpose. I think my parents wants to slowly mold my clothing fashion to be as low-key and dark colored as possible. Well, I guess it makes sense, blending in is a very ninja-esque trait after all… but let's see what I think in a couple of years.
My slightly spiky hair is left down, reaching my shoulder blades and no more. Mother said that really long hair is only for those truly tested in battle, and is a sign of recognition, that despite the handicap it's not a disadvantage. Mother of course said all this while graciously flickered her long hair, almost whipping my face with it…
Oh yeah, surprise surprise, my mother is ANBU, who would have figured?
One day, a month or so back, I had finally gathered the courage needed to ask my mother about her profession.
Flashback
I shuffled into the kitchen, where mom were preparing dinner. It was one of those moments where they both were home. Father was in the bath after our training session, not that he really did anything, but the dust and the general Fire Country heat still clung to him.
"mhmm, Kaa-san?" I ask after a bit of deliberation, after which I decided to just go with it.
Mother merely mhmm'd, not even looking up from whatever she was cutting.
I swallowed, my throat and mouth suddenly dry, though I have no idea why. Maybe it was just the secrecy aspect of it all, filling me with intrigue and a bit of apprehension.
I decided to just bulldoze my way through it.
"Are you in ANBU kaa-san?" I say in my best even voice, considering the hush hush of it all. I didn't really know much about the force, except that each member's identity was a supposed secret. Because let's be honest, sometimes, some of the ANBU just have way to discerning features to really hide, like Kakashi in the future with his white-grey hair.
Mother stopped what she was doing immediately. Turning around, a hard, emotionless expression upon her face.
She didn't let go of the cutting knife.
I will myself not to look at the instrument of death that is in her hands, and instead look her straight in her eyes. Like she seems to be doing each time a serious issue comes up.
She returns my look. No visible change in her demeanor.
After what feels like hours of looking each other in the eyes, neither blinking.
"I am" Mother says in a tone matching her expression.
I swallow roughly and nod. I decide to leave it at that, since I just somehow get the feeling, that I'm not ready to know more, at least yet I'm not.
Mother's expression thaws and she returns to her usual happy self, ruffling my hair, turning around continuing her cutting.
Swish. Thud. Swish. Thud. Swish. Thud.
And on the cutting goes, her back to me. And somehow, I feel as if I've been judged, but I don't know why or for what.
That was the first time I saw my mother's professional kunoichi expression.
Flaskback End
Anyways, after I'm dressed, I grab breakfast with whomever is usually not on a mission.
I then focus on my scholarly work. History, both Konoha and the elemental nation as a whole, geography, math and the numerical studies (not that I really need it), ending with language and writing kanji, which in my modest opinion, I've gotten very good at. While I'm doing all this, mother or father, whomever is with me, is usually finishing up mission reports.
After that, it's lunchtime. We eat a good solid meal before leaving for the day, walking to the clearing in the forest, our practice ground.
And that's when the grueling training truly begins, Stretching, laps, strength, katas, you know, torture.
When training ends, they have me starting on chakra control exercises. The leaf concentration exercise to be precise.
After training we return home, has dinner, after which I meditate focusing on circulating chakra through my coils. I've gotten faster. It's a nice feeling having progress which you can grasp at, feeling your betterment.
The couple of hours before going to bed I'm reading and studying the medical texts, primarily on the chakra network, and a few books on novice poison work. It was mother who got them for me, I only really had to ask, and as if by some magic, the next day I had em' on my desk, no questions asked. I love her.
My schedule is pretty full, but it keeps me on my toes. It keeps me from being restless, and it keeps pushing me forward.
A funny and really useful thing happened a couple weeks ago.
Flashback
It had been a particularly distressful night, I had a hard time sleeping, and when I did sleep, it was a clam, sweaty, restless sleep, full of roaring headaches.
The next morning, I left my bed with bloodshot eyes, and an overall pale demeanor, I took only one glance in the mirror, before concluding that I had the flu or some equal variant of whatever they have here.
I went looking for mother, seeing as she was the one home. I entered the living room to see her already up sitting in our favorite recliner drinking some tea. I didn't even feel my usual six 'o'clock craving for tea, and that was when I truly knew I was sick.
"Kaa-san?" I asked, albeit a bit weakly.
She looked over at me, the smile already adorning her face giving way to concern as she rose, quickly making way to my side, picking me up, before returning to the recliner with me in her lap.
She looked me over quite intently. Presumably wondering my weak appearance, which now that I think about it, is the first time I've gotten sick since coming here. Chakra truly is a wonder cure.
"How do you feel musume?" mother intones warmly.
I proceed to describe the completely shitty night I've had, the smashing headaches and everything. Mother's look of concern gives way to curiosity and then finally suspicion.
Which I truly don't understand at all, does she think I'm playing hooky, not wanting to train, I thought she knew me better than that. Before I can proclaim my innocence of whatever she is surely thinking, she rises, leaving me alone in the recliner, her warmth gone.
She leaves for her bedroom, and I'm sitting there left wondering wha –
"Unghhhhhh!" I Garble, clutching my head and its thundering, returning headache.
I must not have heard or seen mother return in the delirium that was my headache. I look up at mother to see her smile happily, a sentiment I most certainly do not share. So I settle for glaring at my mother with the best venom my childish body can handle.
Mother looks horribly amused, and If that shake in her shoulders is anything to go by, I would say she is s laughing at me! preposterous!
Mother lets out a chuckle, her amusement visibly calming down a bit, before opening her mouth and explaining the situation to me.
Flashback
I'm a bloody Sensor.
Which is pretty cool and useful I'll admit.
With enough practice, I'll never be caught unaware. The survival potential in this one is through the roof. Thank you, almighty universal being looking out for me, thank you!
Apparently, mother is a sensor too, which Is how she recognized my symptoms for what they were, as it happened to her too a little while after she had her chakra unlocked as well. It appears that typically, being a sensor is somewhat genetically, at least to the degree of which legitimate sensors can use the ability. It is possible to develop some small pseudo-sensor abilities through sheer training or jutsu-invention, but they are typically really weak compared to the real thing.
Since my mother don't know who her parents are, she sadly doesn't know where it came from or if it has any specific lineage.
She told me, that she experienced the same symptoms half a year into her academy time, as she only had her chakra unlocked there, given she was an orphan and didn't know about it mind you. She has figured out a loose simple theory, that explains the phenomenon as best as anything else I guess.
She figures, that when the chakra is first unlocked, it takes an ample amount of time for the body and the circulatory system to acclimatize to the new source of energy. Chakra itself lends credibility to this part of the theory, because as the body adapts to chakra and vice versa, and the body and the chakra has assimilated if you will, the chakra, much like your blood, becomes a tangible life energy to oneself, which means, lose it all and your dead.
Apply this line of thinking to the sensor abilities. The sensor abilities are first operatable when the body has adapted to the usage of chakra, meaning the gravity-shifting headaches, were but the body's reaction to the influx of information via a new sense, which it has never experienced before.
It is actually, a rather simple yet difficult way my mother has set up sensor-training. All you have to do, at first, is to meditate and apply mental focus, much like how you're focusing when solving a particularly tricky math problem, it is the same 'feeling', sort of. Except it is a 'feeling' of having to solve a tricky math problem while letting your mind drift, like when you are just sitting sometimes, just staring off into space.
So, it is a rather simple training method, that however, doesn't change its difficulty.
For now, while I'm meditating, absentmindedly circulating my chakra (it has become way easier), I allow my mind to drift, applying the focus needed to keep a lid on the newly acquired sense, as I slowly expand it, feeling where people, for now just my parents, are located. I'm hoping to really give this new ability of mine the time it takes to develop, since it is so brutally effective. Chakra is this world, and it is in everything, and if I'm able to sense it, then I won't have to worry about being ambushed. Hooray!
For now, my ability is pretty limited, but mother says that the ability to sense in itself, only has the limits in which your brain can process information.
Which means, if my mental fortitude is high enough, the ability won't have any limits.
…
UNLIMITED POWAAAAHHH! Huhaahhahahhahahahahhahha Muahahahahahhahaa…
In my absentmindedness, internally cackling at the fortune the universe is showering me with, I almost fail to notice the dinner announcement. Now that won't do, because ever since I started training like crazy, I've starting eating like one. My little body is demanding an amount of food, which I quite frankly find impossible for my little body to consume, but oh well, chakra, the answer to all the problems of life.
As I sit down for dinner, I notice the serious demeaner of both my parents, and now I know they have something important to share with me.
A plate with grilled mackerel and bowls filled with meat and potato stew, cucumber salad, miso soup and brown rice is already at my place. So with a quick muttering of "itadakimasu" I eat.
I know they won't say whatever it is that they've got to until dinner is over, so I calmly eat my meal to the companionable silence of my family. It's delicious, and I eat everything that's served. As I'm finished, I lay down my chopsticks and reclines deeper into my chair.
I see that my parents are already finished, and have, presumably, only been waiting for me to finish. I catch the shift in the room and I sigh to myself, scooting a bit more upright in my chair, showing they have my attention.
"So darling, your mother and I have deemed your commitments to be acceptable, and we have therefore decided, to start trying and take mission simultaneously" Father says in a serious tone, the one he uses when he corrects my taijutsu stances.
"Now that you know what to do to get by, we've both decided to give it a trial run" He continues. Looking at me expectantly, judging my reaction.
I honestly don't know how to feel about it. I mean I see the advantages, that we can get some regular family time, but I also know I'll miss them. I've never really been apart from them for the last three years and eight months' time, but I know this is for the best, so I won't throw a fuzz.
"I understand, Tou-san" I nod, emphasizing my willingness to make this work.
"I know you would my little darling, I know you would" Father smiles happily. He's probably elated that it went so well and that I didn't start crying begging for one of them to stay, which by the way, was a very possible situation, had I been any less mature of mind.
Mother looks relieved as well. Despite her acknowledging, probably a bit more than my father, how mentally advanced I am compared to my peers. Mother rises, walks over to me, kisses me on the forehead before embracing me sideways.
"We're so proud of you, just you know that, my own little Michi" Mother tells me holding me close. I revel in what's probably one of the last feelings of familiar warmth I'll get for a while.
I sink into my mother's embrace and just let myself feel the moment, milking it for what it's worth.
Two days later, my parents bid me goodbye, leaving for their respective mission offices, leaving for an unspecified amount of time. Way to test the self-reliance of and almost four-year-old!
Mother used her remaining time constructively, to say the least. She made an absolute overabundance of food, probably enough to feed several Akimichi's for a week, there is food literally everywhere. It's delicious.
I'll admit, I spent a good hour moping around after they left. But I eventually kicked myself into gear, mentally restarting and compiling the tasks of the day. Scholarly studies, lunch, follow father's training regime, dinner, meditation, medical-poison studies. Rinse and repeat.
This continued for a week, and I still hadn't seen hide nor hair of my parents, which really wasn't that surprising, they could be gone for up to a month's time after all.
So, I didn't allow myself to wallow in loneliness.
It's funny actually, how quickly we, as humans, adapt to change. In my previous life, I didn't really mind, but back then, I hadn't experienced the constant nearby love of a parent, so I didn't know better then. However, now that I know what unconditional love is, and how it is to have around you constantly, I miss it, I miss it a lot.
But I shoulder on, throwing myself into my studies and my training, spending the time I would have normally spent with my parents, throwing more kunai and senbon.
It wasn't until another week had went by, that something different happened.
I was standing in my clearing, yeah, I own it through all the sweat I've soiled the ground with, it's MINE! But back on topic, I was standing there, slowly moving through the katas father had taught me. Starting with one kata, then repeating it, before adding another one, then repeating both, and so it went, until I had slowly added all the katas I knew, to form one continuous flow.
When I had finally reached the full length of the flow, I sped it up, slowly increasing the speed with which I went through the whole thing.
Father had taught me all of the novice, or beginner katas if you will. He had shown me how to string them together, and if by the time he came back, and I had it mastered, he actually said mastered! then he would have me beginning on the intermediate ones.
So, I spent an inordinary amount of time just going through them, letting them become second nature, letting them become muscle memory. I didn't feel quite satisfied yet, I knew I could go faster, bend and twist sharper.
And If I knew it, so did father.
So here I am, in the soft yellow-reddish late afternoon glow of day, pushing myself to my utmost limits.
I could feel it, I was so close to finally having it, to finally achieve that vaunted mastery over the very basics, and damn if I didn't feel good about that.
Just a bit more, faster, sharper, bend more!
I shut out everything, focusing solely on the basics I went through, giving it my absolute best. And then all of a sudden, I could feel it, I had it.
I reveled in the feeling of the moves, which I moved through with such speed that anyone watching, would probably have to take a second glance.
The moves felt right. everything felt right.
It was a nice feeling.
I slowly winded down, ending at the beginning of the very first and most basic kata I knew. I panted heavily, breathing harsh and deep, gasping for air.
Despite the sheer fatigue settling in my bones, I held the first kata, steady and firm. As I imagined my father standing there, looking at me, proud and elated, seeing me accomplishsomething that well, even if they were the very basics.
I was just about to break the kata and make a move to begin stretching and then leave for the day, when slow clapping reached my ears.
I broke the stance and almost jumped in surprise. I breathed in deeply, regaining a bit more breath, before slowly turning around watching who it was, that caught me training unaware. Damnit, I should probably start training more with my sensor abilities, if people can sneak up on me that easy, I'll be dead the moment I stick a foot outside of Konoha. How long were they even there?
The first thing I notice is white-greyish spiky hair pertaining to two people. One much taller than the other, but clearly related. Father and son.
It was the father who had been clapping, smiling kindly at me. While the kid just stared blankly.
Hatake Sakumo and Kakashi
Sakumo is dressed in exactly the same gear as my father, which is a bit boring to be honest. I thought all super powerful people were supposed to be either eccentric, dressed differently or a combination of the two. Apparently Sakumo missed the memo, too bad, he seems nice enough.
Kakashi is dressed in all black. Long sleeved pants and a long-sleeved jacket, zipped all the way up. He doesn't appear to have his facemask or the scarf, I think I remember him having from the academy, just yet. Which means you can totally see his face, and let me tell you, there is no hidden ugly scar, only a childlike face that will definitely grow into something very handsome one day. So, I guess the facemask is for 'operation protect my innocence from rabid fangirls'… ugh fangirls, please bless all that's above, no fangirls in my future, pleeeaase!
Sakumo steps forward a bit, from where they were watching in the tree line. I continue watching him approach, slightly stupefied by the fact that canon just smacked me in the face, without me even doing anything.
Sweet or not? Oh well…. Let's just roll with it for now.
"That was some quite impressive practice there Ojou-san" he said with an expression of interest and… Joy, elation? Whatever it is, he seems genuinely happy at seeing my workout.
And let me just tell you, if this wasn't Kakashi's father, I would have run the opposite way, faster than you could say Tora.
But as it is, I smile sweetly, despite still being a bit out of breath.
"Thank you… mister?" I enquire, despite knowing full well who he is. Can't have my first impression being a creepy little girl who's better left alone.
"Ah, my name's Hatake Sakumo, and this…" he ushers Kakashi forward so that they're standing side by side, truly showcasing the difference in height, Chibi-Kakashi does look pretty cute, even if I remember him being rude as hell. Oh well, everything has a beginning. But well, I'm actually the shortest one here, if only by a hair or something it seems.
"Is my son, Kakashi" he trails of, having introduced his son, who's definitely his pride and joy, seeing the look of adoration thrown the boys' way.
Kakashi, knowing what's expected of him, slowly and showing super reluctance greets me in a single painfully bland word.
"Hello" And that's all! Not that I know what else he could say, but it still comes of a bit rude, and if the way Sakumo glanced at his at is any indication, he thinks so too.
However, since I know Kakashi starts of as a rude bastard, I don't give it much thought, he'll come around and end up becoming that person we all know and love. So I just smile and introduce myself.
"Hello Sakumo-san, hello kakashi-san" I address with an incline of my head at the both of them, before continuing on.
"I'm Michi, just Michi… I was just about to finish up training before heading home, if you want to use the field?" I ask, not really knowing what else to say to them.
"Nice to meet you, Michi. But, no thank you, we've just finished ourselves… in the clearing a little more to the south of here" he declines my offer. Hmm, do they go there regularly? Have I been, but a football field away from canon all this time? Oh well, no use dwelling on it now.
"Ah, I see. Well it was nice meeting you Sakumo-san, Kakashi-san" I say and with a nod to the both of them, Kakashi still looking as bland as ever, while Sakumo has this expression I can't quite identify… it's slightly unsettling. He's looking at me, then at Kakashi and then back at me. I decide to just quit wondering and begin to leave.
But just as I've turned around and taken but a single step, Sakumo calls out for me.
"Wait! Why don't you have dinner with us? My treat." Sakumo calls out, and to be honest I'm slightly weirded out by the offer of giving a small random girl-child dinner.
Kakashi looks almost startled. That's the most rattled I've yet to see him be, and it's kind of comforting, knowing that there still exist a human somewhere behind that indifferent façade.
Kakashi looks at me, downright scrutinizing me for what I could possible possess, that would have his father interested in someone like me. I could almost hear his mental sneer and confusion at not knowing what brought his beloved father to invite a lesser mortal such as I. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, Kakashis got major daddy issues at this point in time.
But he isn't the one talking to me right now, so before I start looking even more braindead, than I suppose I do right now, I break myself out of my stupor and decide to mess with Sakumo just a teeny tiny little bit.
"B-b-but father says that I can't go away with men alone, a-a-a-and I-i-f I m-meet anyone, wh-who a-asks I s-should r-r-un and f-f-find t-t-the poliiiiiiice" I finally manage deliberately stammering throughout, before squeaking police out.
Seriously if I wasn't going to become a kunoichi I should have become an actress. I'm just that good.
Sakumo looks absolutely appalled before flushing a crimson red, now his turn to stuttering out garble words that makes no sense.
Ahh, the euphoric feeling of knowing how much you've outplayed lesser peasants, muahahahah. It never ceases to amaze me.
Kakashi clearly has no idea as to what I just implied. He's looking confused as bare hell, while somehow still managing an impressive glare, clearly because I somehow flustered his dear father.
I relent on the teasing, purely because I can't contain the giggles that spew from my mouth. My giggles turns to laughter, and I laugh so hard that I can't see straight and double over clutching my stomach, while tears fall from my eyes.
The laughter finally succumbs, and after wiping the corner of my eyes with my sleeves, I look up, into the stupefied faces of Sakumo and Kakashi.
"I apologize for teasing you Sakumo-san, but if the offer of dinner wasn't from a shinobi of such renown as yourself, I would have done as my father suggested, no silliness involved" I say evenly back at him, arching an eyebrow, because honestly, a grown man inviting a little girl to dinner, what was he even thinking? I can only conclude that he had a brain-failure of some kind, poor Sakumo.
Sakumo meanwhile is looking at me quite perplexed, maybe because of my well-worded sentence or because of my ability to tease an adult, I don't know, but it's clearly marking me as some kind of genius, or at least some kind of precocious child, well that's probably what he's thinking. And while I could have avoided this entire scrutinizing, it was bound to happen at some point, sooner or later.
Kakashi is looking at me as if I'm some kind of alien or something, which considering everything he has seen so far of me, might be an apt description.
Sakumo seemingly snaps himself out of whatever he was thinking about, but a faint contemplative look still remains as he looks at me, then at Kakashi and then back at me again.
"Ahh, well in hindsight it might not have been the best way to go around it I suppose…" He trails off in a wondering voice, before grimacing lightly, probably imagining the repercussions should such an advance reach the public's ear. He clears his throat, before continuing with a much calmer demeaner.
"Yes, that one wasn't thought through… at all… but, I was just thinking of asking you to join us, because honestly, Kakashi here's a real loner with no friends, and he needs friends, so I thought I would invite you and see if you two hit it off together" He says completely unashamed, even smiling, as he is ratting out on his own son.
Kakashi looks absolutely horrified and utterly betrayed.
"T-t-tou-saaaaaaan" he stutter-whines, and impressive feat actually. However, seeing his father giving him no attention, he turns back to me with a quite vicious look on his face, considering his age.
"Now, I think Michi-san was leaving for her home, right? We shouldn't bother her – let's just leave tou-san" He actually explains quite cordially, despite the underlying meaning being quite clear – Go home!
And just for that, I smile as innocently as I can, looking Kakashi straight in his eyes, just as my mother does, unnerving him maybe a little.
"Oh, whaaaaaaat are you talking about Kakashi-kun, you're not bothering me at all. Do you know? now that I think about it, I sure does have worked up quite an appetite, and who could refuse a meal from our great Sakumo-san" I say stressing all the right words, hitting all his buttons, he looks downright apoplectic when I call, what is essentially his father, shared property. And I say it all in the most sweet and innocent voice, belying the rather vicious comeback to his rudeness.
And as Kakashi is glaring at me all the while I'm smiling sweetly back, Sakumo is somehow, despite this tentative nuclear situation, looking like he's won the lottery. Hmm, maybe he does have a bit of eccentrics after all.
We're sitting at a quaint little place eating yakitori.
I'm minding my best manners and am not just shoving food down my throat. Hey! I'm hungry, haven't eaten since lunch!
Kakashi is shifting between looking at his food and glaring menacingly at me, or at least as menacing as an almost four-year-old can anyway.
"So, how old are you Michi-san?" Sakumo asks, after having cleaned his quite modest portion really.
"3 and… mhmmph… 8 months" I say in between swallowing the food.
"Ah, you're about the same age as Kakashi here, his birthday is in a couple of months" He says looking even more happy at having me here. He pauses, looking at Kakashi and then at me, before smiling mischievously.
"And you know what? Since you're already on such a spectacular road to becoming fast friends" queue looks of bewilderment sent his way, which he chooses to blissfully ignore, continuing on "why don't you join us? Otherwise Kakashi here would be all alone on his birthday, and no one wants that? Now do they." He's not even asking any real questions, just pummeling through without either of us getting a word in "It'll only be a couple of friends and acquaintances that'll stop by, and they're all adults, so please Michi-san, do it for Kakashi?" he finishes his spiel.
Kakashi looks utterly mortified, poor kid.
I take a second to ponder this. If I remember correctly, Kakashi is a bit social awkward, couple that with his sheer genius and wham bam! no wonder he doesn't have any friends, he's probably ages ahead, mentally, compared to his peers… just like me.
Let's face it, Kakashi is the closest person, except any adult that is, that would be able to stimulate me mentally. And since I don't have any aspirations of being a loner forever, seriously, I would like some friends at some point, and I could honestly do worse than Hatake Kakashi of all people.
Hmmm… decision made.
Sorry Kakashi, it might not seem for the best right now, but you'll warm up to me…eventually.
"On one condition Sakumo-san" I say in my best business-like voice.
Sakumo looks positively delighted, while Kakashi looks constipated, probably by the fact that he's being bargained around like a piece of meat.
"Ohh, and what is his condition of yours, Michi-san?" Sakumo asks in a wondering tone.
"I want to spar with Kakashi-kun" I say the last part triumphantly, grabbing his full attention, knowing he'll atleast find this part interesting.
"after I'm done with my normal scheduled training… I have yet to spar against anyone, so I would like to start…" I trail off, hoping Sakumo agrees, since this is a golden opportunity to make my skills battle-ready.
Sakumo looks at me, clearly evaluating this, before looking at Kakashi raising an eyebrow.
Kakashi, at least finds my proposal intriguing enough to not outright deny, which is a start. Sakumo looks back at me.
"Can I talk with your parents first, Michi-san?" Ah, the responsible, sensible adult part of Sakumo rears his head for once.
"They're both on missions at the moment I'm afraid, it could take a couple of weeks before they're back" I explain.
Sakumo narrows his eyes slightly, clearly wondering and going through scenarios. He looks back at Kakashi. Luckily, the little chibi seems to be is his Achilles heel, as he nods to himself, apparently having reached a decision.
"Alright – let's do it"
(A/N): Thank you for reading chapter 3 of Owl-Nin Michi. I hope you were all satisfied with the way i introduced Kakashi into the story. I plan on making him a permanent fixture in her life, they will spar and train together a lot. I think that from an mental developmental point of view, they could become good friends over time, and that's what i sort of hope to make happen. because i think it was about time Michi was introduced to people beyond her parents.
If you found this chapter as interesting to read as i found in to write, then you're welcome to check in sometime in the narby future for another chapter. See ya and thanks for the read!