After that little event, the group Hitomi had had in mind from the beginning was complete. The ideal situation, for her, would have been getting her hands on Hyūga Neji, Mori no Tenten and Rock Lee, but she couldn't see a way to make it happen: they were their upperclassmen and didn't want anything to do with younger students, even though Kurenai taught their study group things that would never be tackled through the Academy program.
The young mother made sure all ten children knew how to get checked in at the hospital. For that to happen, she had just let them injure themselves while sparring, then took them to the waiting room and explained the procedure while illustrating it with their own example. It was very informative and Hitomi was sure most Genin would be at total loss when they would have to seek medical attention for the first time.
Kurenai also gave them theoretical lessons. One afternoon at the end of winter, she gathered them around the big picnic table she had paid a Genin team to install at the beginning of the school year, when it became clear Hitomi would bring her friends home very often. When they were all sitting around her, she told them about the payment a ninja received after a mission.
During that talk, Hitomi and her friends discovered how crazy rich the Jōnin were, and how even Chūnin wouldn't ever fear poverty. Even Genin had comfortable means. They learned that each clan had rules about the part of the pay a shinobi had to give them for maintenance. For example, with the Nara, Akimichi and Yamanaka clans, half the money went to the ninja's pocket and the other half was used to provide for the clan: its land, but also its children, elderly, sick, and wounded. What was left of that part went to the scientists of the three clans, who worked together to create what their ninja would need for their missions, and thus to bring back more money.
Later, Hitomi and her mother had another talk, just with Shikaku and Shikamaru this time. The Nara Clan was the only one to have a whole infrastructure dedicated to research and development. The Yamanaka had a kind of equivalent for psychology, the Aburame and Inuzuka worked together around fauna – in short, each clan had its specialty and systems to support it. The Nara, with their sharp minds and strange sense of creativity, explosive and lazy all at once, were quite rightly considered the inventors of the village. The Uchiha, for example, owed them all the different shapes of shuriken they liked so much, for instance.
Hitomi and Shikamaru thus learned how to file a patent under Kurenai and Shikaku's supervision. The two parents demanded that they always did it with the Nara branch of the Research and Development Department rather than using the village's one, first because they would get better royalties for their discoveries, second because it was an excellent way to support the clan to allow them to commercialise the concepts they had created, third because, if their findings were considered too dangerous or inappropriate, they wouldn't be punished, just warned – extreme cases excluded, of course. The adults didn't expect their children to have such a problem, but one never was too careful.
A few weeks after that, they went through the end-of-the-year evaluations. They wouldn't be determining the young students' future, but the parents of most children at the end of the ranking took them from the Academy and sent them to the civilian school, estimating that, if they couldn't face the first exams of their life, they would be killed quickly during real missions. They were right. Hitomi had watched some of those kids. They didn't have what it took to become a shinobi, and had mostly wanted to try because they wanted to become heroes. The ninjas weren't heroes. They were the monsters waiting for the good people to fall asleep before they acted. It had never bothered her to think of her future self as such.
The overall ranking of their year didn't surprise anyone. Sasuke was first, Hitomi on his heel by one point. She had been better than him in theoretical fields, but all the training he provided her with in the physical ones wasn't enough for her to become his equal. After all, he'd made some progress too there. Mizuki had been reluctant to admit how far the two students had come, but he was that way with everyone, so Hitomi didn't take it personally. She still hated his guts on principle, though.
Then came, in that order, Hinata, Shino, Ino and Sakura. Chōji and Kiba weren't as dedicated to their studies than those four and thus were ranked under them. As for Shikamaru and Naruto, they were the only ones to be ranked far below, in the middle, amongst civilians: Shikamaru because he had intended it so, and Naruto because he had started the year dead last and was slowly climbing his way up. Kurenai, very conscious of his efforts, made sure to invite the little jinchūriki to the party she had planned to throw for Hitomi alone at first.
Hitomi,
Congratulations on your second place. I was certain you would make it. Continue to make me proud. Gaara works hard too. I had his chakra affinity tested last week: he got Wind, and Earth as a secondary affinity, the perfect combination for Shukaku's host. Your mother should do this for you very soon. Depending on your results, I'll have D-ranked and even one or two C-ranked techniques to teach you once I'm back home. I know it's supposed to be left to your future sensei, but you are still my apprentice and I want to pass my own knowledge to you.
I miss you, kid. Take care of yourself and of your friends.
Ensui.
Hitomi,
When we see each other again, you'll be even stronger than you were before. I will be too, of course. Temari decided to teach me Wind Release techniques, but I don't feel like wandering around with a huge fan strapped to my back like she does, on top of a huge gourd for my sand. Ensui-sensei and I are working on a way to always have some of it around and infuse it with chakra at all times, to see if it does something that regular sand wouldn't.
Kankurō has started training with the Puppeteers Squadron, but he comes back here every night. He started decorating the walls and crafted pretty trinkets with the scraps of wood he's got once he's done creating a new puppet. He's really good at sculpting animals, but we don't have a lot of models here in the Desert. Would one of your friends like to draw some animals for us? I know you don't like drawing much.
I miss you,
Gaara.
Both messages appeared simultaneously as she was getting ready for the party her mother had thrown – rather a diner, though – but Hitomi liked taking care of her appearance in this body. She finished brushing her hair, styling them in a bun, her still a bit clumsy fingers fighting against the rubber band, then sat down at her desk to answer.
Unlike some students around her, Hitomi hadn't lost time wondering what her main elemental affinity would be, or even what the secondary ones would be. She didn't want any more than the others: each had their strengths and weaknesses, and each made its master capable of exploits. The affinities didn't decide the role a shinobi would be best suited for, even if Lightning Release masters rarely went for spy work. Anyway, they were all suited for the frontlines, and that was where Hitomi wanted to be.
Her answer written, she put her notebook away in a little handbag and went downstairs, wearing a pretty dress. Its pale pink shade was matched by the flower in her hair, and it complimented her skin in a way she really liked. Kurenai really had a knack for fashion and loved dressing her daughter up. The girl met her mother's eyes and smiled before sitting next to Naruto, who was telling a story about paint and… socks? She didn't want to know.
To her deepest surprise, Sarutobi Asuma knocked at the door a few minutes before dinner was scheduled to start. Hitomi only then noticed the extra plate her mother had gotten ready for him at the table. When she was done berating herself mentally for missing such an obvious detail, she wondered about their relationship. Were they already in love? She sometimes missed being an adult, or even a teenager. At seven, almost eight years old, she couldn't really tell dirty jokes to tease them.
The holiday month before the Academy started again, for Hitomi, was spent training and honing her skills to a razor's edge. She mostly worked with Hinata and Naruto, since both children didn't want to spend time home. Naruto wasn't allowed more than one night a week out of the orphanage, but it didn't stop him from spending all his days in the Yūhi garden, working with his friends. As for Hinata, she had obtained the right to stay all weekends, thanks to heavy negotiation and subtle manipulation from Shikaku and Kurenai. It didn't save either of them, but it softened their daily life to know that they were wanted and loved in at least one place in the village.
Hitomi had really expected her first day of the school year to be predictable, boring even. However, she had to admit that something was weird. Sakura didn't show up at all that day, nor the following one. It wasn't like her, not at all. She was extremely dedicated to her studies and, even when she was sick, she went to school. If she really couldn't make it, then she contacted Hitomi and Shino at least to ask them to bring her notes on the lessons she had missed and the homework they had to do.
After class, Hitomi and Ino decided to investigate. Their arms heavy with their new Academy books, they walked to Sakura's place, this time careful to avoid alleys and stick to the main streets of the village, even if it was a longer distance to walk. Hitomi still had a kunai strapped to her forearm and wasn't making any effort to hide it. Her teachers knew why she wore it and they understood – or perhaps Kurenai had threatened them.
Sakura's mother opened the door. She looked surprised to see them there for a second then her expression softened and she let them in, inviting them to the living room. They obeyed after taking off their shoes. Hitomi's slippers were a bit too big, which made it hard to walk without tripping. And she didn't want to trip. It wasn't dignified for a kunoichi. Yes, she still had five years of Academy before claiming that title, but that didn't mean she couldn't start behaving accordingly.
In the living room, they found Sakura sitting on the ground in front of the coffee table, which was almost disappearing under a mountain of books. Approaching, Hitomi realised they were mostly about medicine. She raised an eyebrow, exchanging a quick look with Ino. The Haruno girl seemed surprised by her friends' presence, as if she had expected to be forgotten.
"Hum, you're not coming to the Academy anymore?" Hitomi asked. She felt uneasy despite her best efforts to relax. Sakura's house was lovely, but it was a civilian home, full of dark corners and hiding spots. Even with her sensitivity to chakra, Hitomi didn't feel safe in there. Ino to her side, she sat around the table too, crossing her legs under it. Her hands went there too, so she could pretend she was alright.
"I thought about it a lot during the holidays," Sakura said. "With my parents, we decided that medical school would be a better fit for me. You don't remember because you had passed out from the pain, but a medic nin came to heal our wounds, that time, at the hospital. He looked so self-assured and… Well, I think that's what I want to do."
Hitomi made her best effort to stay impassive, but her thoughts started to run full speed. Sakura wasn't supposed to leave the Academy. She was supposed to become a ninja then bloom under Tsunade's tutelage. Was it still possible to put woman and child on the same path? Sakura would become one of the best medics to ever exist if she became the Senju Princess's apprentice. The world needed her, and Hitomi couldn't take that away from her. She would find a way, if it didn't happen on its own. She still had years to plan it.
"Do you like it?" Ino asked gently.
Sakura's eyes gleamed with enthusiasm, giving them all the answers they needed. A bit of Hitomi's unease disappeared then. After thanking her friend's mother, who was bringing them refreshments, the girl listened as Sakura described the classes she had had so far. The school that taught the future medics was attached to the hospital and had been founded when Tsunade of the Sannin still lived in Konoha, under her loving care. She had written the program from the beginning to the end and had updated it as new discoveries, mostly hers, made the field evolve. She had only stopped when she had left the village; other, less talented doctors, medics and scientists had continued to take care of her pride and joy.
Tsunade should have been labelled a deserter the minute she had refused to report for duty after a summons from the Third. Only her reputation and her ties to the Senju family had allowed her to remain free, and out of the village. Despite that, she was still a hero in Konoha, especially amongst the kunoichi. It was the Princess, after all, who had developed the contraceptive all the women in the ranks took when their first periods happened to stop having them until they wanted to get pregnant – then, they only had to take the other injection that neutralised the first one. It made it all so easy.
Before that, kunoichi had been forbidden from doing any mission out of the village one week per month, just because the blood made them dangerously easy to track. The cramps, discomfort and mood swings weren't as deadly but had also been at risk of compromising the most delicate missions. Tsunade had changed that system, giving back their full capabilities to her peers, in all circumstances.
After an hour spent chatting with Sakura, the two girls took their leave. Their day was far from over: in the heart of the Nara lands, Kurenai was waiting for them, a whole back-into-shape session planned to start the school year on a sound basis. Some of them had trained during the holidays, but others, like Shikamaru, had decided to rest so they would be up for the new challenges waiting for them. The two approaches were as good as the other. Hitomi was just always one to choose the restless path.
In second year, the Academy classes intensified but still stayed very theoretical. For the first time, students heard about chakra and how it was used to create ninjutsu techniques that defied the laws of nature, and sometimes even reality itself. Those lessons Hitomi already knew like the back of her hand – Ensui had made sure of it before teaching her how to control her own chakra.
She kept boredom at bay by trying to transcribe the books and stories she had loved from the Previous World in one of her infamous notebooks. She wasn't at a loss for choices but had decided to pick the first Warriors stories to start. Adapting those wild cats' stories to the codes of the shinobi world was quite easy, after all. She started working on it at the beginning of the school year, even though writing all day made her left-hand ache.
Shikamaru sometimes read what she was writing over her shoulder. He was trying to hide his interest, but his cousin knew him better than that – so much so, in fact, that when she finished the first book around December, she put it in his bedroom with a note instructing him to suggest edits. He never got to know how she had sneaked in while he was asleep without waking him up.
If she had lacked relational and material happiness in her previous life, she had known the serenity, the gentle and sincere surge of joy from reading stories that echoed deep inside her and equally brought her to tears and laughter. Those stories had never reached her new world, she had made sure to check. If she could do it… Her memory was a perfect tool for that, after all. She wanted to pass on the felicity she had felt one page after the other, and that goal seemed so innocent, so devoid of the violence that would soon fill her shinobi life… Maybe this breath of fresh air would give her the strength, when she needed it, to turn her own heart cold and hard.
Her mind lost in her notebooks, Hitomi barely noticed the months go, until a terrible, heart-wrenching event reminded her that this world wouldn't wait for her to be ready to fight back.