Chapter Two
When the child awoke she was curled up in a ball, wrapped in her blanket, with the finished book that she had begun the night before in front of her.
For a child of her age she could read well, she acquired this skill from her grandmother who read to her everyday and who had taught her how to understand the squiggles that made up words. When her grandmother passed away the girl continued to read, absorbing all of the information that she read, she felt that this was a way to not forget her. With all of the knowledge that she retained the girl was smart, and was beginning to grasp the ways of the world.
A gurgle echoed around the dusty room, and the girl clutched her stomach to try and silence it. Realising that she was on her own and would have to find her own food, the girl stood and stretched and crawled back out through the vent making her way back to the market.
The market was just as busy as the day before, the girl hoped that this would make it easier for her to steal a loaf of bread or a piece of fruit. Being small and covered in dust and dirt, she slipped between the legs of people and towards one of the stalls that others had flocked towards. Hiding behind a pair of legs, she watched the stall owner, waiting until he was distracted. Once his head was turned towards a customer, her had darted out quick as a flash and grabbed a red apple. Hiding it in her shirt the girls rushed away and into the crowd, making her way to another stall. Finding one piled high with loaves of bread she successfully managed to steal a small white loaf before retreating back to her ally and through the vent.
With her small heart beating wildly, she snuggled back into her blanket clutching her stolen treasures, frantically looking around waiting for someone to pop up and scold her for stealing. Deciding she was safe, she began to feast on the apple, the juices running down her chin, silencing the growl of her belly. Saving the bread for later the girl glanced back at her book.
The book had excited the girl, describing the way of the ninja and the wonderful feats that that could accomplish. Duplicating themselves, proofing from one place to another and changing their appearance. The girl thought that this was like magic and wondered if she could do the same, sadly though she didn't know how as the book didn't tell her. The girl looked up and swept her gaze over the selves of books, becoming excited once again thinking that somewhere within them she could find the answers.
Leaping to her feet she ran though the shelves and explored the room. The shelves loomed over her head as she tried to make out the labels for them, sadly there was too much dust for her to make anything out. Running back to her blanket the girl snatched it up and began to rub away the dust from the front of the shelves letting the labels shine through. She mad her way through all of the shelves, until the only dust left were on the books and the the large counter that was pushed up against a wall. Curiosity getting the better of her the girl trudged over towards the counter, and ducked behind it.
Behind the counter she found small cubbyholes that held a large book and pens. Pulling the book out she flipped to the front cover. NINJA LIBRARY stood out in bold on the front, at last she knew where she was. By the dust gathered on the shelves and throughout the space, it appeared that the place had been deserted and that no one had been there in a while.
The library looked like a safe place so she stayed there. Behind the counter she remade her nest and piled the small amount f food that she had gathered in one of the cubby holes. Deciding to explore later she looked through her book again.
" Chakura is essential to even the most basic technique; it is the moulding of the physical energy present in every cell of the body and the spiritual energy gained from the mind."
Chakura. To be a ninja she had to have chakura. The book although helpful didn't go into depth about it, so she ventured out into the library for a book on chakura, and to begin her reading on how to become a ninja.
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Days past, and then weeks, the girl still held up safely in the library; only venturing out for food and water. Without money she had to steel from the market. This gave her the perfect opportunity to practice the stealth skills that she had read about in the books. Since she hadn't been caught yet she assumed that she was doing well.
In the time that she had been there the girl had explored, discovering that the library was smaller than she thought, with part of the ceiling caved in and the upped levels burnt the books looking like they would fall apart at just a touch. However all of the 'beginner ninja books' were on the bottom level where she had first stumbled in. Over the weeks that had passed she had read just under half of the books that were for the lower ninja, learning the basics about everything.
Whist reading she had learned about a Ninja Academy where all of the young ninja learnt. The idea of this fascinated her and she wished she could go, but with no one to enrol her she was at a loss. At night whilst she slept she dreamt of the academy and all the things that she could learn, the age of enrolment was 6, she still had a way to go and to figure out how to get in. She had years to plan for now she was content reading and learning all that she can to help her fulfil her task.