Truth: She would not be weak ever again.
Satoru woke to a completely different cave the next morning, and a tired little girl. The sheets and bedding had been packed away, along with the pots and pan, flowers, sewing kit, and spare clothes, into a backpack thrown over Sayuri's shoulders. Her fire was gone, the ash swept out of the cave. The only sign anyone had ever inhabited it was the pile of firewood stacked along one wall.
"I see you weren't kidding about leaving in the morning," Satoru chuckled. "Were you even planning to have breakfast?"
"I am eager," Sayuri admitted. "There is a place by the river, where we can find berries for breakfast. Is that alright?"
"That works," Satoru said, throwing the covers off of him. Sayuri took them and folded them, placing them in the bulging backpack. She reached inside and drew out a large shirt, far too large for her, and not in the traditional style she seemed to favor. She handed it to him somewhat shyly.
"I had to tear your shirt to get at the wounds," she explained. "I hope this will suffice until you can get to your own clothing.
"Thanks," Satoru said gratefully, taking it from her. He was careful, wincing a bit as he tugged it on, but his stitches only pulled instead of tearing. He looked down, noticing it was a dark material that used to be one of her blankets. It also fit perfectly.
"You guessed my size," he noticed.
"No," Sayuri said, shaking her head. "I learn how people look by touch and description." She held up her hands and wiggled her fingers. "I got a hypothetical look at you while dressing your wounds and worked from there."
Satoru was torn between feeling disturbed, mildly violated, and impressed. He just said, "ah," and plucked at the shirt.
"I can guide us to the river," Sayuri said, jerking her head towards the mouth of the cave.
"Lead on," Satoru said. He was starting to feel his energy coming back now that he was moving and on his way home. Granted, he was coming back with a report of failure, but maybe a new kunoichi would soften the blow.
He watched as Sayuri guided them to the water. She walked with an odd gait, and at first he couldn't figure it out, but then he realized. Instead of setting the heel of her foot down with each step, she put her toes down first and then settled her foot firmly, testing the ground. Not only did it keep her from stepping into holes, it also made her footsteps quieter. He supposed it would be to her advantage to stay as quiet as possible, so she could hear other noises and learn what was going on around her.
It wasn't hard for Sayuri to get them to the river. It's rushing could be heard from the cave. She guided Satoru to the blackberry bushes and the two of them began plucking berries. Satoru happily munched on the fruit. It had been a while since he'd had produce this fresh. He glanced to the side and winced when he saw Sayuri's hands. They were scratched and bleeding. She was heedless of the thorns, not even trying to avoid them.
"Here," Satoru said, pulling a spare pair of gloves out and offering them to her. She reached in his general direction and he placed the gloves on her hand. She twisted her wrist so they were in her palm, running her fingers over it cautiously. "Gloves," he supplied.
"No," Sayuri said, shaking her head. "They cover my fingers. I don't like it."
"You're cutting your hands to ribbons," he protested. "Just for now."
"No," she insisted forcefully. "Cuts are nothing. I've cut myself so many times they don't bother me. I don't even feel them anymore."
He blinked at that, and put his gloves away.
They ate a few more berries, drank a few mouthfuls from the river and filled their canteens, and then they took to the trees. Satoru jumped up and crouched onto a branch easily but Sayuri had to scale it, walking out along the branch to stand by him.
"Focus your chakra on your soles, it'll help get your balance," Satoru encouraged absently.
"Chakra?" Sayuri said blankly. Satoru winced. She wasn't kidding when she said she was behind. She really would be the laughingstock of the Academy if she arrived without even knowing what chakra was. Satoru thought carefully. They were very close to the border of the Land of Fire. They'd probably be home free within the hour. It's take two days to get all the way back to Konoha.
"How would you feel about a lecture?" Satoru asked. "Feel up to it? Can you learn on the go?"
"Yes," Sayuri said, nodding determinedly.
"Then follow me, and listen up."
Satoru talked as they went, digging deep into his memory for all of the theory he'd learned back in his days in the Academy. He talked as they moved. It was a snail's pace for him. Sayuri frequently landed wrong or misstepped or wasn't able to jump far enough to the next branch. He'd stop and wait, still talking, while she pulled herself back up into the tree and they started moving again, only to repeat the process.
It was good for both of them. Satoru reviewed things he hadn't had to consciously think about in years, refreshing his memory, and Sayuri learned, as well as getting a workout. She was panting heavily within two hours but she still kept going without complaint, impressing Satoru with her determination. She was definitely not a complainer. She seemed to understand that this was necessary.
Satoru had it a bit more difficult as they light began to fade, but Sayuri didn't even notice and just kept going in her fall-climb-run-slip-repeat pattern. It was completely dark when they stopped at an inn, and Satoru paid for their room. They stayed together, because Satoru didn't completely trust her ability to maneuver on her own.
They didn't immediately bed down for the evening though. Satoru looked Sayuri over as they stood behind the inn. She was slumped, panting, and shaking with exhaustion. She was covered in bruises, scrapes, and dirt from her many falls. It was a miracle she hadn't twisted or broken something. Still, she was slowing them down a lot more than he'd expected. He understood her problem, of course, and he was sympathetic, but he also wanted to get home, and she needed to learn.
The problem was, they didn't have time for The Hokage would insist that if she was going to be a kunoichi of Konoha she needed to start in the Academy as soon as possible to make up for lost time. He'd probably be able to bargain maybe a week to catch her up. There was no time to start her off with floaties, he just had to throw her into the deep end.
"Here's what we're going to do," Satoru said. "You're going to climb a tree."
Sayuri frowned. "I've been doing that all day," she said sharply. Tiredness was making her snappy.
"Yeah, but this time you're going to use chakra," Satoru said, deciding not to comment on her tone. Normally you wouldn't try this exercise until you were a genin, but it suited their purposes for speeding travel and it would help improve her chakra control. "You remember what I told you about how to release chakra?"
"Yes."
"Try it."
Sayuri did, and was surprised at how easily it came to her. Satoru was as well.
"I've always been able to feel the presence of different people, to know when they move," Sayuri admitted softly. "Is it… am I sensing their chakra?"
"That's what it sounds like, but at a far greater range than people twice your age," Satoru said, biting his thumb thoughtfully. A sensor-type, interesting. "I suppose it's something your body's done automatically to make up for your blindness. The Kaguya don't usually use ninjutsu or genjutsu, only taijutsu, but my guess is you felt some chakra released and your body automatically started recognizing it. This is a huge advantage. You'll be able to tell where people are and how they move. Coupled with your hearing, you shouldn't need your eyes for much. I'd imagine releasing chakra is so easy for you know because you've unknowingly been observing it for years."
"So how do I apply this to tree climbing?" Sayuri asked.
"You can use the chakra to seal your feet to the tree, directing it to the bottoms of your feet," Satoru instructed. "But it's tricky. Too much and the bark will crack and you'll be thrown back. Too little, and you'll just fall off. Watch me," he instructed. Sayuri snorted quietly and he corrected himself. "Listen, then."
He put one foot on the tree, then another, walking slowly up the side.
"I see," Sayuri said from the ground. Satoru kicked off the tree and twisted, landing on the ground in a crouch.
"Figuratively, of course," he said with a small chuckle. She smiled slightly.
"So the trick is to find the balance," Sayuri mused. "Find and maintain it."
"Yes," Satoru nodded. "Most people start out running at the tree to get more momentum, but I think that might not be the best plan. You might miss the tree entirely and wouldn't know when to start up it."
"Fair point," Sayuri said, walking over to the tree. She placed her hands on it, rubbing them up and down and pressing on the bark. She channeled chakra into her hands first, getting a feel for how it worked. When her hands began to crack the bark, she eased up, when they began to slide, she added more. She was still no expert on manipulating chakra, and she frequently went too far in one direction or the other.
"You're not going up on your hands," Satoru pointed out. Sayuri nodded absently and stepped back, putting one foot against the trunk. She concentrated, sealing her foot to the trunk, and then added another.
She hadn't expected it to be this difficult. Forget it taking a lot of concentration to keep her chakra going at a steady rate in one foot while adjusting the second, she also had to use muscles in her core that she simply didn't have to keep herself from flopping backwards towards the ground like a ragdoll. Sayuri grunted with the effort to keep her body straight. She made it one more step before her muscles gave out and she fell back, the distraction breaking her concentration. She toppled to the ground and landed on her rear.
"I didn't think about that," Satoru mused worriedly. "You haven't built up the muscle most shinobi have."
"Then I will," Sayuri said shortly, and she placed her feet on the tree again. Satoru blinked at the vehemence in her voice but said nothing as the attacked her task with determination. She settled back against a tree, listening to her efforts more than watching in the dim moonlight. Eventually his wounds caught up with him and he fell asleep.
Satoru blinked his eyes open the next morning and the first thing that registered was the smell of food. He glanced to the side wearily and saw bacon and eggs waiting for him on a plate, enough for several people. Then he heard the sound of grunting and labored breaths and looked up, eyes widening.
Sayuri looked like hell. There were deep circles under her eyes, and the rest of her face was red from exertion. Her hair was a wreck, filthy and sticking out in all directions. Her clothes were more dirty than clean. Every bare patch of skin showed bruises or cuts from her many, many falls. She was dripping sweat, but she was halfway up the tree before she fell with a growl of irritation, landing on her back on the ground. She lay there for a moment, panting.
"You're awake," she noted.
"You've been working all night," Satoru said blankly.
"Have I?" Sayuri said absently. "It felt like a while. It got warmer at one point. I assume that was the sun coming up."
He'd assumed she would eventually go back inside and sleep. She hadn't eaten or rested in twenty-four hours, and by the lack of her canteen, she likely hadn't had anything to drink in a while.
"Stop," Satoru said sternly.
"No," Sayuri protested. "I'm getting better, I am!"
"I can see that," Satoru soothed. "But you're going to kill yourself if you keep going at this rate!"
"I will not walk into the Academy weak!" Sayuri snapped. She would not be weak ever again; it was another new truth to her life.
She panted, glaring at Satoru, whose jaw tightened. Inferiority complexes notwithstanding, Sayuri had a lifetime of being dumped on to overcome, and that wasn't going to be fixed with a few days. She was fighting to be stronger, to prove she wasn't weak. He'd known shinobi who struggled their whole lives to prove the exact same thing, and they ended up dead.
She may have some advantageous adaptations already built up to counter her blindness that would pay off when her training began and on missions, but she also had a lot of baggage. Whoever that Kimimaro guy was, there seemed to be a lot of emotion tied up there, as well as with the name 'Nigate' and what it meant. Did he have the right to tell her to stop?
Satoru looked her over. Shaking, muscle spasms, labored breathing… He was no med-nin, but any shinobi worthy of the name knew the signs of chakra exhaustion. No matter how much she worked, Sayuri would be entering the Academy weaker than the other students who'd been training for months, if not years. As far as physical energy, rough living had made her stronger than most girls her age and older, but not as strong as real training would. Spiritual energy, the other necessity for chakra, was what she really lacked. It was developed through experience, and she had none. Her chakra levels were very low.
"Eat something, and then we'll move on. We should arrive in Konoha by the end of the day," Satoru said, changing the subject. He may have sounded casual, but there was an underlying steel in his voice that said she better do as he said.
"Alright," Sayuri submitted. She got to her feet and moved towards the inn.
"Where are you going?" Satoru asked in surprise.
"To get food…" Sayuri replied blankly, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the building.
"Here, eat some of this," Satoru invited, pointing at his plate. "You got me way too much anyway."
Sayuri looked at him as if he'd just announced he was going to quit being a shinobi and open a pottery studio. "You're… sharing your food with me?" she asked, looking awed.
"Yeah," Satoru said slowly, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. "Is that so odd?"
"Yes," Sayuri nodded matter-of-factly. "I only ever got what I made for myself. I was never allowed to eat the leftovers unless I snuck them."
"Oh," Satoru said, back on his heels a bit. "Well, it's pretty normal for people to share their food with friends and family and stuff."
"Are we friends then?" Sayuri asked softly.
"I… well, I suppose so," he blinked. He shook his head. It was too early for this kind of deep thinking. "Now come on and eat. We need to get on the road soon."
Sayuri eagerly moved to kneel in front of him, picking food from the plate and shoving it in her mouth. She ate politely, taking small bites and chewing with her mouth closed.
"You've got to have the best table manners of any kid I've ever met," Satoru snorted.
"I hate it when people eat loudly," Sayuri winced, the first true complaint he'd ever heard her make. "It's distracting, not to mention disgusting."
"I can see that," Satoru nodded.
The two polished off their meal and settled up with the innkeeper. He was nice enough not to make them pay for the room, since they hadn't actually used it. That done, they took to the trees once more.
Satoru noted a vast improvement in Sayuri between yesterday and today. Her chakra control was better and she was able to use it to seal her feet to the branches more securely. There were fewer slip and fall incidents, and this time she was able to catch herself more often than not.
"I… feel… people," Sayuri panted as the sun began its descent. "Are we… getting… close?"
"Another twenty minutes," Satoru approximated. "I'll have to take you straight to the Hokage, so there'll be no time to clean up."
"That's fine," Sayuri said.
Soon she couldn't just feel the people, she could hear them.
"Hey, Satoru, took you long enough to get back!" called a voice as Sayuri followed the sound of Satoru's footsteps out of the trees.
"Izumo, Kotetsu, are you guys on gate duty again?" Satoru greeted.
"Yeah," groaned a different voice. "It's so boring. Tell us you saw some action? We can live vicariously through you."
"I got my a-butt kicked," Satoru corrected hastily, glancing at Sayuri, who was shifting uncomfortably. Her head kept twitching around in the direction of random noises, "by some Cloud-nin. Six to one," he winced.
"I see you've got a spare," said the first voice, and Sayuri knew he was talking about her.
"Introduce yourself," Satoru said, pushing Sayuri forwards gently.
"Izumo Kamizuki," said the second voice.
"And I'm Kotetsu Hagane."
They both stuck out their hands to her, but she didn't reach for them. She just nodded her head and mumbled, "Sayuri." They looked at Satoru questioningly.
"She's blind," Satoru explained. They both blinked, surprised.
"Oh, I see," Izumo said.
"I'm sorry, did you do something?" Sayuri asked blankly. "I wasn't paying proper attention, I…" She reached out, hand moving slowly towards Izumo's. He grabbed her hand and shook, then passed her off to Kotetsu.
"She found me bleeding in the woods near the border," Satoru explained. "Patched me up, and agreed to some back here and be a Konoha shinobi when I offered her the chance."
"You're taking her to Lord Hokage?" Izumo asked.
"Yeah," Satoru nodded. "We'd better get going. I hope Lord Hokage will be able to squeeze us in."
"See you," Kotetsu nodded.
"Good luck, Sayuri," Izumo added.
"Might be a good idea to hang onto me so we don't get separated," Satoru advised as they entered the main portion of the city. It was even louder here, and people brushed past her she followed closely in Satoru's footsteps.
"It's so loud," Sayuri said, dizzied by the cacophony of voices and touches. She caught the edge of Satoru's sleeve and trailed closely as he led her into a building.
"Stairs," he warned as they reached a flight. Stairs slowed her down at first, but she quickly got the hang of the height of them, and guided herself with her free hand on the rail. They entered a hallway and through another door.
"Is the Hokage free for a minute?" Satoru asked softly.
"Concerning?" asked a cool, female voice.
"I found this girl on a mission. She wants to become a shinobi of the Leaf," Satoru said, laying a hand on Sayuri's shoulder.
"Just a moment," the woman said. There was the scrape of a chair, soft footsteps, and a door opening and closing. Sayuri guessed they were in an area outside this Hokage's office. A moment later the door opened again and the woman stepped out. "The Hokage will see you now."
"Come on," Satoru said, tugging Sayuri forwards. She stumbled after him into a different room and the woman shut the door behind them.
"Satoru, this is a surprise," said a gruff, old man's voice. Sayuri assumed this was the Hokage and she suddenly felt nervous. Would he like her? Would he let her become a shinobi? Would he turn her down because of her blindness? She didn't realize she was trembling with nerves and fear until Satoru laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Lord Hokage, I was injured on my mission," Satoru explained. "I fell unconscious in a patch of woods. This girl took me to the cave where she was living and patched me up and fed me. Apparently she'd from a shinobi clan that was wiped out. She very much wants to become a Konoha shinobi, sir," Satoru said respectfully.
"I see," the Hokage rumbled. "What is your name, child?"
"S-Sayuri K-Kaguya," she stammered.
"Kaguya?" the Hokage repeated in surprise. "I thought they were all killed when they attacked Mist?"
"I was never allowed to fight," Sayuri explained softly. "I stayed behind to mind the camp. I was to have a celebratory meal ready when they returned. They never returned."
"I suppose it's because you were a girl," the Hokage mused. "So many people underestimate women as fighters."
"No, sir," Sayuri said respectfully. "It's because I'm blind."
"Blind?" the Hokage questioned, looking at Satoru questioningly.
"My lord, she's adapted well," Satoru jumped in. "Her other senses are heightened and she's definitely a sensor-type. It seems she'd learned to recognize the feel of a person's chakra and identify them and their movements by it."
"Interesting," the Hokage said. There was a squeak and Sayuri imagined he'd leaned back in his chair. "And how well do you maneuver, Sayuri."
"I think very well," Sayuri said, her voice getting stronger. This man wasn't so scary. He sounded calm, kind, and wise. She wondered if this is how grandfathers sounded when addressing their grandchildren. "I can guide myself away from walls and uneven ground with my hands and feet, and I can follow people's footsteps no matter how quiet they are. When I'm familiar with a place then I don't even need that."
"Very well indeed," the Hokage agreed thoughtfully. "Sayuri, could you step outside a moment? I'd like to speak to Satoru privately."
"Of course, sir," Sayuri said, instinctively dipping her head submissively. She turned and headed in the direction of the door. Her hand found the knob after only a moment and she stepped outside, closing the door behind her.
"Does the Hokage want something?" the woman from before asked.
"He just wanted to speak to Satoru alone," she said, leaning against the wall beside the door and closing her eyes. For all intents and purposes it looked like she was resting, but in reality, she was listening.
"Satoru, a blind girl?" the Hokage was asking. "Do you really think she could become a kunoichi? And she's so far behind at the Academy."
"I could give her lessons after classes," Satoru suggested.
"Would you really?" the Hokage asked in surprise. "It would cut into the number of missions you were able to take dramatically."
There was a rustle of fabric and Sayuri imagined Satoru shrugging. "I miss teaching a bit," he admitted sheepishly. "I lectured her on theory the whole way here, and I realized I do miss it. Not the classroom dynamic, but I miss teaching. I'm good at it. I got her halfway up climbing a tree in one day," he finished proudly.
"Did you?" the Hokage asked in surprise. "I see. That's promising, then, if she can learn so quickly. She might stand a chance at catching up. What are her attributes and weaknesses, that you've observed?"
"Sayuri learns fast and doesn't complain. She had a lot of potential for chakra control, and she's already a good sensor. Obviously she'd be immune to dojutsu and other forms of genjutsu might be weak against her. She should be able to sense most kinds of ninjutsu. Her kekkei genkai could be amazing when fully developed. I've got some idea for how it could be used, and she might end up with an almost perfect defense and offense. I think she might be a good candidate for taijutsu."
"Why taijutsu?" the Hokage pressed. "Surely she'd struggle."
"From what she's explained, her type of sensing involves sensing individual sources of chakra and the small pulses of energy used to move. I think that would make her good at taijutsu."
"Interesting," the Hokage mused. "I heard of another girl with similar talents. Not a shinobi, but blind. She learned to read the movements of people around her by sensing chakra."
"It's not unheard of then," Satoru nodded.
"No. And her weaknesses?"
"The obvious, of course," Satoru began. "But she's good at compensating. She would probably never be very good at genjutsu, if she can use it at all. So much of it requires eye contact for concentration. She'll probably be very weak against wind-based ninjutsu. There's also…" He paused.
"What?" the Hokage coaxed.
"Well, the people of her clan… they called her Nigate."
For a moment, the Hokage was silent. "I see," he said grimly. "I can assume she's developed a bit of an obsession with proving them wrong?"
"Chakra exhaustion," Satoru nodded. "I gave her a task and she just… didn't stop."
"That can be a very large weakness. Some shinobi can get far by simply not acknowledging their limits, but others will only burn themselves out. Only time will tell what kind she is." The Hokage's chair creaked. "Even if she weren't accepted into the training program, which I've decided she will be-"
Here Sayuri had to restrain a squeal by clapping her hands over her mouth.
"-I still wouldn't turn her away. She'll need a place to stay. I'm hesitant to leave her on her own, both because of her disability and because of how unfamiliar Konoha will be to her. At least at first-"
"I could take her in," Satoru jumped in immediately.
"You're going very far out of your way for this girl," the Hokage observed slowly.
"I like her," Satoru admitted quietly. "And I think she deserves a chance at being normal."
"By becoming a shinobi?" the Hokage replied drily.
"Well, you know what I mean."
"Fine then," the Hokage nodded. "You know, of course, about the fund set up for orphan shinobi and children we take in. She'll need supplies. You're free to use the fund to pay for her things.
There was the sound of a pen scratching, and then a sharp tap.
"This will allow you to use it. Simply show it to any store worker and they'll know what to do," the Hokage instructed over the sound of rustling paper.
"Thank you, Lord Hokage," Satoru replied.
"Sayuri? You may come in now."
Sayuri walked inside, completely aware that the large grin on her face was giving her away, but she couldn't seem to make it go away. The expression was unfamiliar, and it sort of hurt her cheeks, but it was a good kind of pain.
"Going by your expression, I'm assuming you heard everything we said," the Hokage chuckled. Sayuri flushed.
"Yes sir."
"Well, I'm pleased to welcome you, Sayuri Kaguya, to the Konohagakura Academy training program," the Hokage said.
Sayuri beamed.