Disclaimer: I am not actually Naruto's creator writing in English under pseudonym for mysterious reasons. I am just a Naruto fan writing in English under pseudonym for mysterious reasons.
Chapter 19
I woke up and lay on my bed for a while, basking in my pillow's fluffiness, listening to the sounds of the morning. Good. I should have an hour or two. By now, I could tell the time by the frequency and type of bird call I heard. Pretty impressive, if I say so myself. I got up, stretched, and turned to the portrait on my dresser.
"Good morning, Auntie and Uncle! I'm going to school today!" So excited.
Bathroom next. I liked getting an early bath in the morning, so I could "start the day with a BANG!", as Anko said. All that I needed now was coffee… coffee and nattō. The former was sadly unavailable, so green tea would have to suffice.
I got dressed in under five minutes. I'd taken to wearing neutral colors these days. Less chance I'd mistake one piece for another and end up looking like a carnival, for one, and it'd be easier to camouflage in practical exercises anyways. The latest addition to my ensemble was an eye mask, like many people used for sleeping. I'd tied a cloth over the scar for some time, but this was way more comfortable.
"Morning, Rin-chan!"
She was already in the kitchen. She'd always been an early riser, and I was sure she wanted to see me off today. I appreciated it. Memories of a previous life or not, first day at school was always scary. Plus, it was a school for soldiers, spies and assassins. No idea what to expect, but for the unexpected.
"Mmmm… damn birds, waking me up so early. Oh, hello, nano-nerd. You got school today or something, right?"
Even Kakashi was up. He tried to play it off as an accident, but I knew he'd woken up just for me. I am on to your tricks, Tsundere-kun! I gave him a tackle hug.
"Good morning, old man!"
"Old man? I've told you, I'm fifteen! You hear that? Fifteen! I've got plenty of time 'till you can call me that!"
"Your hair and grumpiness say otherwise, old man."
He gently pushed me off him.
"Hmph." Tsun tsun ~ ~!
A plate was set down in front of Kakashi, prompting him to stop whining and start eating. He'd been adamant about not showing his mouth, at first, but Rin-chan had beat- I mean, coaxed him out of it, at least when it was just us. Frankly, I had expected a scar, or a cleft lip, or something. What I found was… disappointing. He was just as much of a bishōnen without his mask as with. Freaking riajū, I thought jokingly.
Soon, I was done with my food, and thus ready to depart. I gave Kakashi one last hug, Rin-chan a kiss on the cheeks, and grabbed my stuff.
On the way, I was joined by a Dango.
"Hey, pipsqueak!"
The height nicknames are starting to get old really fast.
"You aren't even that tall, Anko." And if genetics speaks true, neither will I be. But she doesn't need to know that.
"You're still a pipsqueak." She smiled. "So, you're starting school? Ha! That egghead Nakamura is in for one hell of a surprise! Show him up for me, will you?"
"I take it you weren't a teacher's pet?"
"As if! His classes were always booooooring, so I cut whenever possible. And he had the guts to try to hold me back a year! As if it's my fault that he couldn't keep the attention of a dog if he had a piece of meat!"
Anko was loud. It was kind of comforting, in a way. I could always count on her to be boisterous, hyper and unreserved. And hungry for dango. She can put away a dozen of them in five seconds flat.
That was when I was joined by a Green Beast. Another one? What am I, Momotarō?
"Hello, Disciple-chan! I have arrived to see you to your youthful first day at the Academy!"
Oh no. He's going to make me wear the green jumper, isn't he? Anko, HELP!
"I see you aren't wearing your uniform, Disciple-chan. Did you forget it? Hang on, I'll lend you one!"
"Don't worry, Guy-sensei. I, erm, it's like weighted training! Yeah! I'm, er, trying to project my youth even without the uniform!"
Stop laughing, Anko. Now. Please?
"I see! Great idea, Disciple-chan! As expected of my greatest disciple!"
I'm your only disciple.
"In any case, thank you for coming to see me off, Guy-sensei!"
"It's my pleasure, Disciple-chan! Enjoy your youthful time!"
Anko was still sniggering to my right. Dammit, Anko.
I arrived early. Best not to have to look for a seat when I couldn't just glance around and tell which were empty. I sat near the front, so I could hear the lecture better. I couldn't follow the blackboard, and taking notes was still hard, so I'd best pay attention.
This is so exciting. I knew I must be ahead of the class, but this was ninja school. Even the classes for kids must be very interesting. In any case, children in this world were different; stronger, limber, smarter. I doubted Itachi-nii was behind me in the curriculum at all. Even taking into account that he was probably above the curve, that still meant I could learn a lot from these lectures.
We started with target practice, at which I was sort of rubbish when the targets were silent and immobile. This was actually good training, though I assumed my fellow students were throwing form farther away. I need to catch up to them soon. I'm not half as good as I was before the disaster. Next was the theoretical class, which puzzled me. Why have us exert ourselves right before a class?
Unfortunately, Anko may have had the right of Nakamura-sensei's classes. The man put the "mono" in "monotone". How can ninja classes be thisdull? The fact that, just a couple of minutes ago, we were throwing weapons didn't help. Something just didn't add up. This has to be a hidden test! They must want to evaluate our mental endurance and discipline. Well played, ninja academy.Yosh! The impulse to drift off abated, and I carefully hung on to sensei's every word. I had every intention to pass.
He asked a question every now and then, but those couldn't be it. I was surprised to hear Itachi-nii answer most of them. In great part because I'd honestly expected there to be more variety in answerers–Nakamura-sensei had asked one question of some jackass named Kamano, who somehow didn't know the answer (and, most bafflingly, was proud of it), then had stuck to Itachi-nii. In any case, I was glad, because I missed my brother and hearing his voice made the class more bearable.
Still, it was a struggle. The minutes passed by slowly, while the teacher expounded on very basic facts about weapon safety. All of this had been covered in the packet we had received for self-study a month prior to the school year. How on the nose is this challenge? We've already practiced with weapons–this is clearly required material. Even so, not all students seemed to be on to it; I could hear kids chatting in the background.
I was rewarded later, when sensei cleverly slipped a mistake into the lecture. I couldn't alert the other students to the test, of course; if we weren't supposed to figure it out ourselves, the teacher would have told us about it beforehand. Discretion must be part of the test. I thoroughly noted down the point at which this had happened, and the reasons why the team formation he'd described was inefficient, starting with the fact that it wasn't easily adapted if the team had to split.
At the end of theoretical class, I sauntered over to the teacher and handed in my work, hoping I'd get a good grade. Technically, I was entitled to skip all of this, but I valued the experience. On to taijutsu practice!
Itachi was glad to see Hino-nee at the Academy. He wasn't able to sit next to her today, both because the seats were taken and because Father had told him not to. Itachi didn't get why that was. There were a lot of things that didn't make sense to him these days. What was the purpose of life? If life was so precious, why did everyone need to fight and die? Why couldn't Hino-nee live with them?
Speaking of Hino-nee, she looked very bored to Itchi, but she still paid attention to the teacher the whole time. Not many others seemed to bother, but Itachi decided he'd follow her example. The importance of taking school seriously was something both Shisui and Father (and apparently Hino-nee as well) agreed on. Plus, even if he mostly knew the subjects, the review was welcome.
Hino-nee was taking notes at a furious speed. She didn't answer any of the questions, though Itachi was sure she must know the answers. She wrote pages upon pages; more than the actual content of the lecture, surely. Itachi felt the familiar flame of curiosity light up in his heart. Hino-nee is always interesting!
When Hino-nee handed Nakamura-sensei her stack of notes, the man seemed very puzzled. He stared at her, then at the paper full of small indentations. Itachi knew it was Braille; he'd been learning how to read and write it in secret, ever since Shisui had told him Hino-nee could only read and write this way now. Wait. Hino-nee and Shisui haven't actually met each other yet, have they? Itachi looked forward to introducing them.
He went up to the teacher and handed in his own notes. Nakamura-sensei wasn't very motivated, and a lot of students didn't seem to care much about what he was teaching; maybe Hino-nee had wanted to encourage him by showing she was paying attention? If so, Itachi intended to help her.
Next was sparring. Itachi vaguely remembered sparring with Hino-nee, years ago. He'd won most of the time, but it was still a challenge. He looked forward to showing her the many cool new techniques Father and Shisui had taught him, as well as seeing just how much she'd improved. Maybe I can teach her the Gōkakyū!
Unfortunately, they hadn't been partnered the whole time. Itachi was paired with a boy named Kamano, who, although full of confidence, didn't have the skill to back it up. The match ended quickly, with a throw, so Itachi got to watch Hino-nee get reprimanded for playing with her sparring partner.
"She was holding back! I can't spar like this!" Hino-nee complained. That just earned her another earful.
Itachi laughed. Sure, he understood the problem. Just like him, Hino-nee was beyond the level of this class–they had received the training of a clan leader since beyond Itachi's earliest memories, after all–but she was in some weird sort of denial over it. This made him wonder what, exactly, he had involved himself in by "helping" her motivate Nakamura-sensei.
Nakamura Touma was troubled. The blind girl in his class had handed him some weird papers full of dots. He'd been told it was some form of script for the visually impaired, but none of his training had prepared him for this. He'd have to find someone who could read it. Perhaps one of those ANBU types? One of them is bound to know this weird code.
Still, given the number of pages, he assumed this meant she'd been taking detailed notes. At least he could read Uchiha Itachi's. Touma smiled. The boy was clearly a prodigy the likes of which were seldom seen. He'd answered every single question in the class, defeated a bigger opponent in one move, and hit all his throws.
The girl–he'd just found out her name. Uzumaki Hinote? That's weird. I hadn't known there were any more Uzumaki in the village beyond the cursed child… In any case, the girl had hit most of her throws while blind, and was clearly proficient in taijutsu–though she sorely needed discipline. Showing off like that against a less experienced opponent wasn't just rude to her fellow student, it was a dangerous habit. Well, she'll have time to learn.
Kakashi was flabbergasted when the notes ended up on his lap. They had taken a circuitous path to him: from the poor soul assigned to teach the micro mastermind to someone in ANBU, then bounced around the place for some time before being handed off to him. What did you get into this time, wee wonder?
And now Kakashi needed to explain to the bitty brainiac's teacher that she had written a treatise on the subtle flaws in his lecture, based upon the writings of the Sandaime himself, with some Nidaime sprinkled on it.Ugh. That sounded like a lot of work, so he decided to sidestep the issue.
"Hokage-sama."
"Yes, Kakashi?"
"Your disciple, the puny prodigy, handed this in to her Academy teacher. He couldn't read it, so it ended up in my hands."
"She's taking academic classes? Ha! Poor Touma… I hear she's been hanging out with Mitarashi Anko, too? I need to watch this!" The Sandaime laughed, looking sideways at his crystal ball, then started reading.
"Answers to the Hidden Assignment, by Uchi- Uzumaki Hinote
"On the topic of basic battle formations, the third option addressed is clearly outdated, as pointed out in the works of…" Hiruzen trailed off, absorbed in the reading. "So what made her write this to her teacher?"
"Well, so apparently she thought the classes were so easy there must be a trick… she concluded the teacher must be sneaking in false information, which must be detected and reported for a grade." Kakashi could see a huge drop of sweat form on Hokage-sama's head.
"Well, get her out of that class. I'm afraid poor Touma will lose his nerves if he learns what's in here," he said, with a smile. "Ha! This is a good one. This girl is almost on the level of Oro-"
He stopped suddenly, smile gone, and took a moment to recompose himself.
"Ahem. In any case, let her finish the week, then pull her out of the academic curriculum. We already knew she shouldn't have been there, in any case. She also clearly needs more discipline training; I will ask Shoku-san about it."
By the time the week was done, Itachi-nii had already accumulated fangirls all over the place. Oh my. Is this the fabled power of the triple Bs: beauty, brains and background?
I first noticed when, once we got a pause, I went to his desk to talk to him. I could practically feel the hostility emanating around me–not that I needed to, mind you; their whispers were loud enough for me to hear clearly.
"Who does she think she is, approaching Itachi-kun?"
"She's blind, isn't she? How's she going to be a shinobi?"
"I think I heard about her from mom. She told me to stay away from her… maybe her parents are traitors?" That one must be Uchiha.
I didn't much mind; there were way worse things in this world than the gossip of little girls. Things this school was supposed to prepare us for. They'd stop soon enough, in any case. It was the nature of gossip to die down.
"Hello, Itachi-nii." I gave him my best smile.
"Hino-nee!"
Hugs ensued. So did death glares, I'm sure, but who gives a damn? From what I've seen during practice, these kids couldn't harm me if they all ganged up on me. And I was tied down. Okay, let's not get cocky. Maybe just my arms tied behind my back.
Going back to Itachi-nii, he was reluctant to talk to me; apparently, Otou-sama had cautioned against it. I could sort of see where the advice came from; he was the clan heir, and I an exile. Still, Otou-sama had only told him not to approach me at school. Surely he and this Shisui friend of his could just happen to go train on one of the public training grounds once or twice?
"It's a good idea to make sure you get some variety", I told him, with a conspiratorial tone. "I know the new private training grounds are great," I said. He'd told me as much. "But surely the clan heir can't restrict his training to a single environment?"
I sat on the ground, pulled out my slate, and wrote down my schedule for him.
"Here are the training grounds I'll be using this month. Just so you two know which ones are taken."
When the second week of school started, the last-year students of the Academy were surprised to find, on their morning class, a small girl sitting at the front row. She was just under four feet tall, and wore a black jumper with orange highlights, as well as an eye mask. She was running her fingers over some blank paper.
"Hello, kōhai-chan. Are you lost? This is the seventh year classroom," said one of the girls. She had a feral look, and a small brown pup on her head. The child raised her head.
"No. I'm in the right place." And with that, she was back to her paper.
A minute passed.
"Look, kōhai-chan, this is not the place for you to do… whatever you're doing."
"I am reading," came the even reply. "And the classroom is certainly a place to study. Don't you agree?"
The older girl snarled, frustrated. One of the other students, a blonde, blue-eyed girl, raised her voice:
"It's okay, guys. It's not every day we get a cute kōhai to visit us, right?"
She turned to the feral girl, who was clearly irritated.
"Let sensei deal with it, Inuzuka-san. It's not your problem."
Then, to their small visitor:
"What's your name, kōhai-chan? This onee-san is Yamanaka Ayame." She pointed at herself. "Pleased to meet you!"
"I am Uchi- I mean, Uzumaki Hinote. It is a pleasure, Yamanaka-san." She lowered her head a little.
"Hey! Why are you being polite to her and not to me!?" Asked the earlier Inuzuka, a bit redenned.
"I must protest. I was never impolite to any of you. You were the ones who interrupted me."
"Why, you-"
"Good morning, students~! Sensei is here!"
The students, most of whom had been watching the spectacle, immediately bolted to their seats. Mitarashi Ichika-sensei was know for throwing blunted kunai at unruly students.
"Sensei! There's a kōhai in the classroom!" Said the Inuzuka girl, pointing at the intruder. Her dog barked for emphasis.
"Oh my. Are you Uzumaki Hinote-chan? I was unsure you'd be able to find our classroom. I must say, Nakamura-sensei was quite impressed with your… homework. I hope you will find such displays unnecessary here."
Mitarashi-sensei winked, and the girl blushed. Uzumaki-chan had been harshly reprehended for showing up her sensei like that, she knew. I just hope she won't turn out like that problem child, Anko. Mitarashi-sensei raised her voice.
"Everyone, this is Uzumaki Hinote-chan. She is a first year, but was reassigned to this class. I hope everyone will take care of her and help her adapt. Do you want to introduce yourself, Hinote-chan?"
Hinote walked forward.
"I am Uzumaki Hinote. As you can most likely see, I am blind. Don't worry, I can manage fine. Just don't ask to borrow my notes if you can't read them. Please take care of me over the next year."
She made her way to her seat.
As class progressed, it was obvious to every other student that Hinote's heart was not in the lecture. She was clearly paying attention, and taking notes, but her neutral expression betrayed none of the excitement all of them recalled feeling when they'd first attended an academy lecture.
"Can anyone tell me the strengths and weaknesses of the tactic we've outlined here? Inuzuka-san?"
On the Academy's trademark giant blackboard, the outline of a formation for a six-man, or double, team was displayed. Mitarashi-sensei had spent the last twenty minutes analyzing other such formations. Still, this one was more complex than the ones they'd looked at so far. The Inuzuka girl frowned at the diagram.
"It's easier to just rush in and beat them?"
"Wrong~! You do know there is a written exam coming up, right? Kobayashi-kun?"
"...sorry, sensei." The boy looked, and sounded, dismayed.
"Uzumaki-chan, care to take a crack at it?"
"Well, I can't see your diagram, but from you description it sounds like the displaced hexagon employed by Suna in the Second World War. Due to its pinched, hourglass shape, it enables great coordination and a small frontal profile. It is very powerful when used against an unprepared opponent, especially by shinobi capable of fast, coordinated movement. However, as demonstrated by Nidaime-sama, in the Third Battle for the Land of Rivers, it is vulnerable to attacks from the side, making it easy to ambush once one knows the enemy is employing it."
"Well done, Uzumaki-chan. Okay, Nara-kun, which formation would you adopt against an enemy who came at you with this formation?"
"Do I need to answer…?"
A kunai hit the windowsill next to his head.
"You were saying, Nara Shin'ichi-kun?"
"Assuming we survived the first onslaught well, I would use the double reverse triangle to pincer them from the sides. Otherwise, retreat. Fighting enemies in ambush formation is just too much work."
"Well done! So as we've seen…"
Mitarashi Ichika continued her lesson, but she could tell a lot of her students were too busy staring at the newcomer to pay proper attention. Nothing a few well-placed kunai won't fix…
"Wait, so they put you into Aunt Ichika's class? What did you do, set fire to the school? Maaaaaan, she's such a square, you know?"
"Anko, she's my sensei, not yours. How come you get to grumble to me? And she's not that bad; I find her lessons quite exciting. As for what I did…" I lowered my voice, feeling my face heat up. "I may or may not have sort of written a critique of Nakamura-sensei's class because I thought it was so bad it had to be a trick stop laughing, Anko!"
I tried to hit her sides, to no avail. Proud as I was of my taijutsu accomplishments, Anko was still loads better than me. Which brought us to this outing, where she'd promised to show me some dirty moves they didn't teach at the academy. Really, mainstream Konoha shinobi were so dead set on honor you'd think they were samurai, instead of ninja. Well, I can't afford honor anymore. Not if I want to be strong enough.
We started from the basics: kicking sand or dirt in their eyes. Anko said there was a trick which could be done with chakra to stick dirt to one's feet and thus launch a lot of it–her sand kicks were certainly impressive–but while I understood the theory, I hadn't even managed tree walking yet. Maintaining that steady flow of chakra was a nightmare, and having to move quickly enough so the bark wouldn't explode under my feet was also a daunting prospect.
It was still a usable technique, however, even if the sandals favored by most shinobi weren't particularly conductive to it. I'd just need to practice with it until I could do it in live combat.
Next came using the light against one's opponents; a properly polished hitai-ate would do the job well, Anko told me, but "only a very stupid moron would wear polished metal on their forehead. The glint will alert any enemy not as idiotic as you for hundreds of meters." I could see the point.
Her advice was to carry a few well-polished kunai. Sure, they took work to maintain, but a second of blindness for the enemy was a second of weakness. Now that I think about it, could I make a flashbang seal? I could activate it at point blank range without worries, while my enemies would have to at least cover their eyes. Hm…
We adjourned for lunch, which I provided, as per our agreement. I could afford some extra ingredients – Kakashi and Rin-chan provided most of my basic necessities, but I still drew a small stipend from the village as a wounded soldier. At least that's what it was on paper, but given that the injury had happened before I actually enlisted by joining the academy, I was sure Hiruzen-sensei had finagled some regulations to my benefit.
"Oh! I see we've come at a good time, eh Itachi?"
My first impression of Shisui: jovial. Just from his tone right there, he was one of the friendliest people I'd ever met. He sounded like he was somewhere between mine and Anko's age–his voice hadn't cracked yet.
"Hello. You must be Uchiha Shisui-san. Pleased to meet you. This is Mitarashi Anko, my friend, occasional teacher, and self-declared dango connoisseur."
"Just call me Shisui. Any friend of Itachi's is a friend of mine. Now, all of this smells delicious. May we-?"
"Help yourself. Just be careful with the dango. There's enough for everyone, but Anko can get… territorial." I flashed my friend a grin, to which she responded by poking my ribs.
"You've been awfully mouthy lately, pipsqueak… maybe I should get 'territorial' on you!" She proceeded to tickle me relentlessly.
"Help-" gasp "I'm being-" giggle "oppressed!" I rolled on the grass, trying futilely to defend myself.
"Well that should teach you to narc on your senpai's very healthy preferences in foodstuffs."
Both Shisui-san and Itachi-nii were laughing. I guess being tickled is a small price to pay to hear Itachi-nii's laugh. I smiled. I'll still need a word with Anko, though–what if my chakra leaked? I was wearing my sealed clothing, as I generally did for our training outings–they tended to require full on contact–but it was still a bit dangerous to touch me for a prolonged period, while I was… not poised.
Shisui-san turned out to be a boy of grand ideals. It did not take much coaxing to get him to wax poetic about his vision of what a shinobi should be. "Like a shadow, protecting the whole village from darkness". Something about it rubbed me the wrong way, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Wanting to protect others is well and good, but… but what? Itachi-nii, however, was spellbound, judging from the "ooh"s and "aah"s he was emitting.
Not that he was a passive element in the exposition–he seemed very much intent on dissecting Shisui's ideology as much as he could. Good old Itachi-nii. The curiosity of a six year old with the intellect of a sixty year old.
"How about you, Mitarashi-san? Seeing as you're the most experienced of us here. What do you think the purpose of a shinobi is?"
Shisui sounded genuinely interested, much to my surprise. Highly ideological people tended, in my experience, to be close minded. Not with this boy.
"I just try to do right by the people who do right by me. People will make up all sorts of fantastic ideas and paint all sorts of pretty pictures… but you see, this world?" She paused, and I cold see her in my mind's eye, gesturing around. "This world is fucked up. If you are good to me and mine, I'll be good to you and yours. You cross me? It's your head. Anything more than that is bullshit."
I felt, more than heard, her sit back down. Anko… She needed a hug, so I gave her one. She was warm.
"I am terribly sorry to have stirred you so, Mitarashi-san; it was not my intention. Still, thank you for the insight. It is much appreciated."
"Geez, you're just like the pipsqueak gets some times. Drop the formalities. My name is Anko! Mitarashi-san is my aunt."
A/N: This is mostly unedited, and a bit late. Maybe you'll forgive me because it's huge? It's the larget one yet, at over 4.5k words before notes.
I'd very much appreciate any comments regarding awkward phrasings, typos, or just plain plot holes. I hope there are none, but this is, unfortunately, mostly raw.
Itachi gets harder to write as he gets older! He's a mixture of cute naiveté, world weariness and untiring idealism. Why did I have to choose such a hard character to write as Hinote's closest family?
My favorite is Anko, though. She's like a smarter, bloodthirstier Naruto. What's not to love?
Reviews are welcome! I've introduced like four new characters (and one from the original) in this one, so be sure to tell me your impressions of them! I mean, they didn't get much screen time, but you know...