Chapter 8: The end of innocence.
A few months later.
"Children! Recess is over! "
School. Mother of all boredom.
One could think that a school designed by ninja for ninjas should be the dream of all 3-soon-to-be-4 kids that ever was a kid.
Guess what? 'One' would be dead wrong.
Well, maybe in a few years when we'll begin to learn how to fight and survive in the wilderness, but the first year of academy school…
I remember when my parents took me to the academy. My father was beaming, telling me about his days, about how he sneaked out to have fun, or the day when he trashed the teacher's locker…
I don't really know what I expected.
Mum held our hands in silence, only smiling when my father continued his recollection of memories. Apparently, they met here and my dad made a fool of himself when he introduce himself. Figures.
Soon we were dispatched to different classes.
I wondered what kind of comrades my mother had.
But today was a very important day… Even if it didn't start as one.
"And this character is the kanji '木' and it's written with this symbol. Now, take your pencil kids. "
"Yes Miko-sensei!" Screamed the kids with way too much enthusiasm.
"I want to die… Please kill me Moon-moon…"
"Can't do that… Too bored… To go on living…"
"Shinji-kun! No slacking off during class! Go here and show me your work!"
Our teacher, Miko-sensei, was an old hag with a huge "no-nonsense" vibe. Conservative clothes, civilian style, her hair tightly knitted behind her head, the usual squared glasses with steel eyes behind them…
The perfect air of "don't fuck with me" that every kid in his first year of school learn to respect.
I could understand that, but why do I have to do it!
AGAIN?!
Of course, they don't expect four years old brats to start sending fireball to kill time, that would be beyond stupid, but still! Even during recess those kids waste their time 'playing ninja'.
Which means playing tag.
You know, like kids…
So, nothing out of the ordinary, a perfect childhood daily life…
A fucking BORING childhood daily life!
Slowly standing up from the bleacher I chose, conveniently placed on the last row and close to the radiator (that's because having no one behind you is the very basis of security when you are a ninja, I swear!) I started to gather a little bit of Chakra in my feet then used it to draw a small curtain around my body.
The first one to give myself an explosive boost of speed, the second to cancel the air friction and move unimpeded toward her desk.
Moon-moon was an excellent teacher when it came to Inuzuka's arts. According to him, if you want to 'go get things', you need to 'go get things fast'.
It was a dark day when I understood that, in order to get stronger, I had to listen to him…
Chuckling internally, I moved. My plan was to put my sheet of paper on her desk, on which I drew the whole fucking kanjis of 'village hidden in the leaves' because I WAS THAT BORED AND SERIOUSLY ARE THEY ALL THAT DENSE on her desk and go back instantly to my place.
And maybe sleep. Yeah, good plan.
But guess what? That's not what happened.
The moment I tried to get close, my sheet just… vanished from my hand.
"Hmm. Almost good enough, but your 'れ' is sloppy. Do it again."
What?
I stood at my place; a few feet close to Miko-sensei desk with the hand holding the once-in-my-hands-sheet still in the air.
Said sheet was somehow now in her hands. And there was a red mark in it, circling where I drew a sloppy character when I didn't have the motivation to perfect it.
"See me after class, Shinj-kun. A few hours of detention might help you with that kind of sloppy handwriting."
Wait I'm the only one who could draw the whole fucking alphabet. Is she fucking with me?
As my teen hormones started to overflow my common sense, I felt Moon-Moon imprint tug in my mind.
"She smells goody! I like her!"
You fucking trai... Waiiiiiit a second.
She just interrupted an Inuzuka dash without me noticing. That's when we use our clan teaching to move without making a single warning sign.
And she just did it without breaking a sweat. And I KNOW she's no-one in the story. Someone who could stop an Inuzuka, even a child, shouldn't be ignored by the story, right?
What's going on?
"Please, go back to your seat, Shinji-kun, and do that exercise again. Now."
I felt her glare behind her glasses and hoooooly shit I don't want to argue with her now.
So, I went back to my seat. Slowly, without making any sudden move. I felt vindicated.
The day finished without any mishap. A boring day.
I was now the only person in the classroom beside Miko-sensei. The atmosphere was quite heavy as she was grading our class work.
*So. I understand that you are bored."
Not looking up from her paper, my teacher began to speak.
"Yes. I already know how to read, write, speak... I should be doing something less… STUPID with my time!"
Knowing that my body hormones were all over the place was one thing. Acting on it and preventing them for saying dumb shit before I realize it was something else.
But I chose to let my emotions flow, if I acted my real age all the time I REALLY would finish in a T&I cell for interrogation.
"The Sandaime informed me of your situation. We cannot let you skip any class like we did to the Uchiha brat because having a genius from a clan of knuckleheads is not documented enough to warrant the risk."
"Don't… Insult… My clan… In front of me…" I snarled.
I had to reign my nerve not to shout. That was stupid, wasn't it? Damn you, hormones.
"I'm sorry, little one. I meant no disrespect." Said my teacher with a smile. She was totally lying, that was obvious, but I decided to let it slide. Even if she thought that my clan and family were a bunch of morons, I had no way to change her mind.
Also, they are a bunch of morons. But only I have the right to call them like that.
"But even then, we cannot allow you to skip any class. You'll have to bear with it. Maybe in the future things may change. But not on my watch."
Translation: they were spying on me and drafting their conclusion on how a "Inuzuka genius" was acting.
Fuckin' peachy.
"I get it". I said dejectedly. "But isn't there anything I can do to kill time outside of the normal curriculum?"
I knew that was NOT a word a three-almost-four-year-old should know, but I said it anyway.
"Not much, to be honest" I saw her eyebrow move slightly, no doubt surprised by that, but she hid it with a frightening speed. If I wasn't looking for it, I would have missed it. Who is she?
"I can speak to your parents about teaching you in your free time. We strictly monitor every child that attends the academy. But outside it's fair game. If your family wants to turn you into an insensitive tool of war, it's their prerogative. I will have no part of that. Not now that we are finally at peace.
But I must ask you, why do you want to skip class so much?"
Miko's eyes were smiling. But against an Inuzuka sense of smell, it was easy to see the bluff.
I understood that this was a cornerstone of my story.
Shall I tell everything? That would be stupid. She was a ninja. A very good one I could tell but since I was only almost four, she could be middle chuunin or high level jounin I will not be able to tell the difference.
So, I have to improvise.
"'Cause it's not right... Can't anyone see that something is wrong here?"
"What do you mean?" My teacher's voice was calm and motherly, but I saw her hand move slightly to a drawer on her desk.
Did she keep weapons here?
"My mother will soon give me a little brother and was relieved from duty. My father is trying his best to fulfill her tasks but the fact that she had to leave for a tracking mission yesterday is the proof that something is wrong!"
"How do you know that?" Miko's tone was now cold as ice. And I was playing a very dangerous game.
"Moon-moon can hear people's voices even when we are far away from them, and no one suspects a three year old to listen. Thanks to him again I can also 'smell' people's... Everything. And right now it's telling me something else: you are not an academy teacher, right?"
Her smell was starting to remind me of something. I have met her before. Long ago.
"Yes I am. I don't know what you are imagining but you must know that nothing like that happened recently, your mother was called for a routine mission close to the border because…"
"You are the ANBU with the cat mask that was tasked to bring me to the council."
Well...Yeah, I really, REALLY, should have thought before speaking. I was alone in an enclosed environment with an ROOT ninja without any witness and hooooly fucking shit I'll never see the light of day again isn't it?
"Yes, I am."
The matter of fact tone she was using threw me off guard.
"Shouldn't you… I don't know… Deny it? The whole ANBU stuff?"
"Yes, I should. I just don't care. But what you are saying is much more important. Now, speak."
Her last word was ushered with a tone of steel. My teacher, old and well kept, was towering over me.
"Someone is getting closer to the village. My mom couldn't smell him which is NOT something that should happen. That means he can move undetected. And he wouldn't be doing this if he was friendly. You said we are at peace, but that also means we are not fully on our guard. An army cannot sneak without being detected, that's common sense. But what about a one-man army? The history of Shinobi is filled to the brim with tales of people like that!
We had strategy formation, how to detect an army, how to manipulate morale and spread false information to our advantage, but why does everyone seem to be oblivious that our enemies DOESN'T need an army? Just one, single but overpowered Shinobi could inflict tremendous damage and tip the balance! Why is everyone so blind to this when we have all the evidence in the world! Someone extremely powerful and undetectable is getting closer and closer and you want me to perfectly write 'Konohagakure'? Am I insane?!"
"No, you aren't."
The sharp tone of my teacher stopped me. Gone was the stern but motherly sensei. I was talking to one of Konoha's highest intelligence officers.
I can live with that today. Tomorrow I'll have some explaining to do, but I can live with that today.
"What do you think is really happening, Shinji-kun"
"This is no coincidence. According to what my mother said to my father, someone is trying to get close to a single place. Someone appears, scouts, gets sighted, then vanishes. This is not right. No one should 'vanish' in front of mum. It's textbook terrain recognition and no one seems to connect the dots."
"That is because there are no dots to connect. There is nothing here except an old sealing place. We made sure it's deserted. Also, your mother is pregnant, you are too young to understand that but your mother is not at the top of her game. When you grow up you will understand that bearing a child can… Weaken… Your Chakra… "
That was it. That was the perfect moment my old but competent teacher was that close...
"Good thing the Hokage is not pregnant, right?" I said jokingly. But her shocked expression was the one I was expecting.
Miko's eyes grew wide. She connected the dots. I was sure of it. I had to restrain myself from dancing.
BOOOOOOOM
Yeeeees... That and the fact a thunderous explosion happened a few kilometers in the east. That and a terrifying, blood curdling scream resonating in the air. A scream of anger, a bloodthirsty deafening and murderous sound.
This was my birthday and the day of the Kyuubi's attack. I did what I could, which was, let's be honest, 'nothing'.
Happy birthday to youuuuu…
Happy happy fuck youuuuu…
Happy, happy I'm screwed...
Happy birthday to youuuuu…