"Excellent work, Syouri-chan," Daikoku-sensei says out of the blue as we head for lunch after a morning of physical training and chakra training in which, at last, I unveiled my ability to use chakra making the leaf slick to my forehead for fifteen seconds. I had thought I would be subtle and more evident in later classes, but I had failed at that.
"Thank you, Daikoku-sensei," I say pleasantly, hiding my annoyance. He still likes me, which is strange given that I haven't exactly made that big an effort to conceal my DISGUST with how he prioritizes some students over others (mainly prioritizing anyone but Naruto).
We head off in separate directions, the class dispersing into the field as others flood from the building, seeking escape from the classrooms. I go to the side of the building where our backpacks are lined up, mine a little further away from the rest to avoid others having a reason to go and mess with my things. I make my way to a shaded tree, sit down and begin to open a book when I stop.
"Syouri-san?" I hear a voice connected to a familiar chakra that makes me want to scream and sigh dramatically. Isn't this how my troubles all started?
"Sasuke-san…" I say, a little uneasy but also pleased.
"Can I sit?" Sasuke asks, motioning next to me, and I think about it… the damage has already been done.
"Sure." I shrug, and he plops down next to me, a bento balancing on his lap that his fingers seem to toy with. "Is there something you'd like to discuss with me?" I ask, giving him an opening as I feel the eyes on me.
"Well, you see… I wanted to know why you haven't been by the Uchiha compound…" Sasuke asks, mumbling that last part under his breath and looking at the leaves overhead instead of at me.
"Missed me?" I ask teasingly, and Sasuke's attention instantly snaps to me instead of his bento.
"What! No!" Sasuke denies it VERY quickly. "I just… Izumi-san hasn't helped train me since you left. That's all." Sasuke says, folding his arms over his chest.
"Ok, Sasuke-san, whatever you say," I tell him, and he grumbles.
"So, are you coming back?" Sasuke asks, a little worried looking.
"Yes, I am definitely coming back," I tell him, and he looks very relieved by that. Still, he doesn't walk away like I thought he would. "Is that all?" I ask, tilting my head, not sure how far I should pry.
"I… I wanted to talk to you… Nii-chan… he's… he's been acting strange. He was being weird before, but now…" Sasuke says, worry tainting his voice.
"Well… he's clan heir, right… he probably has a lot on his plate having to represent the clan to the village," I say, and it is true. After all, Itachi is one of the few openly Uchiha members of the regular shinobi corps (even if in ANBU). He may be a spy or whatever, but as a clan heir, he garners a certain level of inspiration among the shinobi and civilians alike. There's that thing that someone can make an opinion of you in like five seconds or something after meeting you… Well, Itachi is that five seconds, and for all the good he does, he fails to frame the Uchiha clan as anything other than reserved and calculating geniuses. Suitable for the clan image yet wrong at the same time.
"I see… You notice a lot, don't you?" Sasuke muttered, clenching his fist. I lean back against the tree, moving my hands to cushion my head behind me.
"I've always been observant. Just part of who I am, I guess." I tell him, and Sasuke deflates.
"Kaachan said something similar about Nii-chan. I wish there were something I could do." Sasuke says, grim determination to do something settling in his gaze. I blink my red eyes, tilting my head at him.
"I think I know something you can do," I say, seemingly with no planning, but this is perfect! The ideal solution is to start rebuilding the trust and perceived image between the Uchiha and the village!
"What?" Sasuke says, instantly alerted, and I can't help my lips twitching upward. "How?" He demands.
"Well, you may not be able to deal with his ninja duties, but you could help him by taking some attention away from him. Let him get some breathing room." I say sagely, nodding to myself, and Sasuke looks confused.
"How do I do that?" Sasuke asks, eyes narrowed as though suspecting a trap or something. It is sort of a trap, in a way.
"Don't worry, I'll help you. After all, that's what friends are for, right?" I say, smiling genuinely at him, and his eyes widen. He nods. Lunch is over before either of us knows it, let alone accepts it, now it's time for class. Sasuke sits next to me, then deviates from his usual window spot to sit next to me. The gasps from around the room are deafening.
"Alright, students, time to move on to a very important skill in shinobi life." Daikoku sensei says, walking into a quiet room for once as he starts writing on the chalkboard. "Handsigns." He says, writing the word and tapping it.
Everyone leans in interest. After all, hand signs are the building blocks of jutsu, meaning jutsu is just around the corner.
"Troublesome." I hear Shikamaru mutter from the other side of Choji.
"There are twelve basic hand signs for each of you to learn to perform flawlessly. However for now we'll focus on five of the most important of those twelve. The standard elemental hand signs." Daikoku says, handing out a sheet to the front row that begins to be passed around. Soon enough, it finds me, and I take it, seeing the twelve hand signs with their name and instructions on how to perform them. Of course, hand signs are useless without knowing the right sequence. Even then, they aren't that useful since many pros use certain Justus without hand signs. They are more like training-wheels we are overly dependent on in reality.
"Boring…" Sasuke mutters, looking at the sheet, and I elbow him.
"I don't have parents to teach me this stuff." I remind him, and he rolls his eyes but can't hide his surprise. Still, despite that, he becomes quiet.
"When going against an enemy, knowing how to predict their moves and respond accordingly is vital," Daikoku comments lightly as I look at the sheet. The five elemental handsigns are really four bird for wind, tiger for fire, dog for water, snake for lighting, and finally snake with tiger together for earth. Why one element has two together, I really don't know. I guess another question for the library. We started to practice hand signs with the person next to us, and of course, Sasuke was stupidly good for our age, performing each one flawlessly. While I go through them clumsily.
You have gained 1DEX!
I smile and keep working at it.
New skill!
Hand-signs Proficiency level 1
The ability to make accurate and fast hand seals is a crucial skill for a ninja. Higher DEX helps. Increase in hand-sign speed by 2% per level. Increases ability to make our hand-signs of enemies per level. Current hand signs (standard twelve). Current overall ability 2% hand signing speed.
I'm only a minority surprised that handsigning is an actual skill in and of itself. I guess it is that important. To know why, I only need to remember the battle between Zabuza and Kakashi after Kakashi escaped the water prison… Kakashi knew which jutsu Zabuza was going to use and was able to sign it faster and beat him to it. The difference between a second and half a second in battle is staggering. I sigh and keep running through the seals.
"You know…" I say in a low voice. "Senpai is going to need to up her game now that we're learning jutsu…" I muse out loud, and Sasuke smiles. Now that we're about to learn jutsus, a world of opportunity will start opening up.