The sound of countless children running to their designated sparring circles filled my head as I viewed them from the very back of the class. I had a sneaking suspicion that I was going to get my ass handed to me today, very slight, but still worrying, especially because I'm fairly sure Anko still wants to vent from last week. I looked over to her, and she was staring back with manic glee.

Wonderful.

"Ton'neru!" Your opponent shall be Anko! Please proceed to the ring!"

I drooped my arms, defeated already, "Might as well get this over with."

Anko of course sprinted full speed into the ring, happier than I've ever seen her before, I however did a slow jog to prolong the inevitable.

"C'mon Ton! Hurry your mummy ass up!"

I scowled beneath my wrappings.

Finally, in the ring, I looked across to my opponent, and apparent friend, and just asked myself, why? Mainly to my past self for goading her, but still.

The referee, a chubby Akimichi chunin, yelled, "Perform the Seal of Confrontation!"

We both brought up our hand into the seal, although mine was rather halfhearted.

"Are you ready to get pummeled again Ton?"

I only stared with narrowed eyes, if I was going to fight, I might as well go down swinging.

We both got into out respective stances, mine an unrefined academy stance and hers some style she got from somewhere I don't know about, probably some teacher I don't know about.

"Begin!"

She immediately pounced at me, not to different to the first time she assaulted me. I dodged to the side and ducked, anticipating a high spinning heel kick as she typically did in our previous spars, but I got blind sided by knee directly to the face that threw me back towards the edge of the ring, but I just managed to stay on my feet.

Looking back up to Anko she had a smirk on her face as I stood back up fully, I rushed her whilst pulling my right fist back ever so slightly, telegraphing as subtly as possible. She jumped at me, sliding underneath my right fist, but running directly into knee, disorienting her. While she was off balance I stuck my foot behind her left heel and spun my upper body around into an elbow, which she slipped but ended up tripping over my foot.

I smirked back at her as she fell, I finally got one up on her! However, my moment of triumph was cut short by her grabbing my arm and twisting around mid-air throwing me over her to the ground, effectively using the momentum of her fall to down me.

I let out a gasp as the air was knocked out of me and found her looking down at me with her fist raised and my jacket grasped in her other hand.

Well that went by fast.

I took in some air, breathing heavily, "I, heuuph, I concede."

She was breathing heavily, but smirked and let go of me while standing back up, offering me a hand up. I obliged, gripping her forearm and pulling myself up.

"Anko Mitarashi is the victor! Perform the seal of reconciliation!"

We gripped our fingers together in the seal, "Good match Anko."

She grinned, "Yeah, yeah, Good match, when did you improve so much?"

I shrugged, "I just practiced and payed attention during our spars."

She nodded, "Makes sense."

Hayate waked up to us, "Good spar guys."

I smiled, "Thanks man."

Anko followed my lead and just thanked him much like I did.

We were about to start talking again when the sparring instructor yelled, "Everyone! Sparring has concluded for today, everyone go back to your assigned classroom!"

I glanced at the clock, "Tsk."

The teacher had left to get something for our lesson, so we, as well as the majority of the class were all talking.

"So," Anko started, her head propped up on her arm, "What do you guys do at home?"

Hayate merely shrugged, "I usually train my kenjutsu with my parents or I sometimes go cloud watching."

Anko deadpanned, "Sounds boring," She turned to me, "How about you Ton?"

I looked up to the ceiling and thought about it for a moment, "I usually read in my room or I help clean the flat with my aunt, I also sometimes do that leaf exercise, but at this point I have to use about five leaves before I even notice a change, so pretty much nothing."

She threw her head back, "AUUGH, you guys are so bland, why don't you pick up any worthwhile hobbies?"

Hayate had the dignity to look mildly frustrated, while I didn't even react.

"Hey! Kenjutsu is a worthwhile hobby! What do you do at home anyway?"

Anko grinned, "I'm glad you asked! I practice my taijutsu, I eat dango, I run around the village looking for fun things to do-."

I cut in, "and you go up to burn victims, asking them how they got their scars."

Anko blanched, stomping her foot, "That's a total lie Ton, and you know it!"

She looked over to the insulted swordsman in training, "He is lying Hayate. It's probably to draw attention away from his wrappings, I think he's sensitive."

I frowned, "Well now that's just insulting."

She turned to me, "I stand by what I said, your boring and sensitive."

I sighed, "First of all, I'm definitely not sensitive, and second, nothing interests me enough to cultivate it," and under my breath I added, "And usually we move before I have a chance to."

She puffed up her cheeks, putting her hands on her hips. I aggressively ignored her.

Hayate tried to play peacekeeper, "C'mon guys, Ton doesn't need some extremely special hobby to be unique."

I smiled, "Thanks Hayate.

Anko let out her breath, "Fine, onto other things, what's taking Meinu so long with our lesson?"

WHUMP

The door slammed open, and Meinu walked in dragging a man wearing…green..spandex?

The man looked like he had given up fighting her hold.

Meinu turned to the class with the man's ear still in her grip, "Now class, this is Might Duy, he has so graciously volunteered to assist me with a demonstration on genjutsu."

She relinquished the man his ear and he immediately jumped back a few feet and shook his head before looking up with a blinding smile and a thumbs up, "HELLO YOUTHFUL NINJA IN TRAINING! I AM HERE TO HELP!"

I along with the rest of the class winced at his volume, Anko plugging her ears with her hands. I leaned over to her and Hayate, "We were already told that…"

Anko didn't respond as she was to busy trying to block out the ringing, a futile effort, and Hayate just shrugged.

Meinu sneered at the man, "Please refrain from being that loud again," The aura from our first day returned in full force, which we learned was known as Killing Intent, began to fill the room, "Especially in my classroom."

He kept the pose and smile but started shaking, "O-o-of course Meinu."

The killing intent receded and Meinu actually smiled, although it looked more sadistic than anything else, "Now, as I taught you before, Killing Intent is the aura you just felt, however, it is also known as the first and most basic form of genjutsu."

A kid from one of the upper rows raised their hand, "What is genjutsu ma'am?"

Meinu turned to Duy and performed hand seals I couldn't see, leaves appeared and flew around the man's body, and, well…

"Where did the students go? Lady Meinu, your youths have disappeared!"

I tilted my head to the side confused as the man observed his surroundings.

"OH! I see Meinu, this is part of the genjutsu huh? Well it's not any-."

He turned to the left as if he heard some noise, "W-what? No…That's not me! IT'S NOT, I AM MUCH MORE YOUTHFUL!"

He flailed about and fell to the floor crawling backwards 'til he hit the wall. Meinu, still holding that grin from before stared down at the man, "Release."

Duy while hyperventilating looked around flabbergasted, "W-was, was that apart of the jutsu?"

She only nodded.

"O-oh…"

He stood up, albeit shakily and stumbled his way out of the classroom, with only his ignity and the manic look in his eyes.

What the hell?

Meinu lost her grin, thankfully, and turned back to us, "That, was a genjutsu, more specifically that technique was called the Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing technique, which tricks the victim into seeing their worst nightmare come to life."

She walked to the open door Duy left, closing it, "To give you a more concrete answer, genjutsu is a technique used by ninja to fool their opponent's senses with the application of chakra."

Hayate didn't look interested at all, and Anko only scoffed, mumbling about how ninjutsu was better.

I, however found it… intriguing.

"Now, the use of genjutsu does require precise chakra control, so if this is something your interested in, than practice is highly recommended," She went and sat at her desk, "Because You have all gotten a brief overlook of the three main tools used by ninja, we will be moving on to general studies."

Everyone groaned in unison.

The three of us were walking out of the academy after our runs, "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Hayate was confused, "Are you in a rush for something Ton?"

I looked up to the sky, specifically at the darker clouds.

"Not really, my aunt wanted to do dinner early today," The lie rolled off my tounge easy.

He nodded, accepting my excuse.

Anko shrugged, "See you Ton."

I waved and started off towards our flat, jogging my way through the streets. I felt the telltale signs of an unwanted transformation.

Ah shit.

I ran/floated off into an alley, looking every which way for something to hide in.

Nothing.

FUCK!

I floated my form out of the alley and flew as quickly as humanly possible; I could feel the rain falling onto my form.

Oh, Come ON! Of course, it has to be the day I find out about something actually worth spending time on, FUCK.

I decided to just try to reach my home, my jacket had fallen off, so I was even at greater risk now.

KAMI, ya fucking sadist! Is this what we're doing now! Screwing me over before I can even try to live! YOU BASTARD!

The wind picked up, becoming audible, I could feel it rushing around me now. I looked all around until I finally spotted it, I could see the flat, the thirty-seven adorning the door practically called out to me, and the window was open! I might make it!

Throwing myself through the window I felt some of my wrappings tear as I fell to the floor, returning to my normal form.

Breathing heavily, I leaned back on my hands, reveling in the feeling of the hard wood floor on my palms.

"Holy shit," I stood up although shaking and closed the window.

Turning around I saw Jakun standing in the kitchen with wide eyes, "Are, are, you alright Ton'neru?"

I took a deep breath, and looked up, "Yeah," I let out the breath, "I'm fine."

"I'm just going to," I looked around, "Just going to go to my room."

She nodded, although still staring at me.

I stumbled towards the hallway leading to my room, taking a second to glance at the small bonsai tree next to the kitchen, "Tsk."

The next day I woke up floating above my bed, 'Really?'

I reformed myself and started my day.

Getting ready for the day, brushing my teeth, showering, re-wrapping myself, grabbing a new jacket and doing a quick chakra exercise by sticking my hand to the wall and pulling took me about fifteen minutes to finish. I looked out the window.

I woke up pretty early huh?

The sun still hadn't come over the horizon, and I was unlucky enough to be conscious.

Might as well make the most of it.

Dragging myself out the door, I made sure I was wrapped tight and made my way out the door. The first thing I noticed was how much quieter it was now, I mean, I expected it, but experiencing the sound of silence first hand was nice, especially after how hectic the previous days had been, not even mentioning our trip.

Starting my stroll off, I noticed a few frugal inhabitants who had woken up early was well, but I paid them no heed. Continuing my walk at a faster pace, I caught sight of my destination.

The library.

I walked into the building, going right up to the elderly man behind the counter.

"Hello," I offered the man a smile.

He ignored me.

I cleared my throat, "Hello?"

The man turned to me with tired eyes, "Yes?"

"Do I need a card to check out any books?"

The man shook his head, "Everything is public except for the restricted section, only those of chunin rank and above can access it."

I nodded to the man, 'Thank you sir."

I walked off into the rows of books, "D..E…F..There we go, G."

I should probably stop mumbling to myself….eh, for another time.

Surveying the shelfs I found a plethora of books I couldn't care less about, like, 'Getting fit in 10 easy steps!' and, 'Gonorrhea? It's more likely than you think," until I got to what I was looking for, 'Genjutsu for aspiring ninja.'

Perfect.

I strolled out of the aisle with a satisfied grin on face, but then I paused.

It'd probably be best if I looked for a bit more material.

I found myself aimlessly wondering about the library, going from section to section, combing my way through the informative works and novellas. I spent so much time searching that the sun had finally reached its place high in the sky.

I sighed, "I should probably make my way back home."

Even though I had spent so long looking for anything else, I had only found one extra book on the five nature transformations.

"Hello again."

The man turned to me with the same tired look, makes me feel for the guy.

I slid the books over the counter to him, "Could I check these two out please?"

He only nodded, grabbing the books and stamping a slip of paper, "Please sign here."

I obliged and bid him farewell.

Looking to the clear sky I took a deep breath.

Man, I'm lucky that today's not a week day.

I froze.

Wait…

I ran back into the library as fast as my legs would carry me, "Sir, sorry to bother you, but what day is today?"

He didn't look up, "It's Friday young man."

I stared past him through the wall behind him, and I felt my legs start to transform out of nervousness.

Without a word I turned heel and literally flew directly back home to drop off my books.

I looked at the door in front of me with trepidation, wondering if I should just go home and claim I was sick.

No, I'm better than that, but damn if this isn't going to suck.

The slid the door open with a stone face.

Meinu was in the middle of a lesson, however, with my entrance, everyone's heads turned to me.

"Terribly sorry ma'am, I overslept."

Meinu stared through me for a while, scrutinizing every detail not covered by my gauze.

She gestured with her hand to get to my seat, "Anko, as you sit closest to Ton'neru here, you will be getting him up to date, is that understood?"

I let out a breath in my head, Thank whatever deity…

"However, Ton'neru, you will be doing twice the laps everyone else does after class."

Nevermind.

I physically wilted, "Y-yes ma'am."

As I sat down at my seat, Hayate and Anko looked at me questioningly, "I got carried away in the library alright," I whispered.

They looked at me condescendingly, I stared back at them with slightly narrowed eyes.

I sighed, "Oooff of that, what are we learning now anyway?"

Anko immediately deflated while Hayate's eyes dropped, "The history of the Daimyos."

My forehead made friends with the table soon after.

A/N: I'm trying to increase the length of my chapters without too much of a detriment, once again, please let me know if you noticed any grammatical issues or characterization issues, or any issues with the story outside of plot. I'm still trying to build Ton'neru up to be an actual human being with motivations and personality, so he may feel bland for a bit, which I do apologize for. Hopefully I'll see you next chapter, and I hope you enjoyed.