Scarlet Justice - ep. 08
"The Challengers"

The next set of classes put more of a focus on tree climbing and water walking. I try not to show off too much, but complete the exercises easily enough. It's the same as the training I did at Midori's place, so I'm familiar enough with how it all works.

Hinata does her best as well, improving day by day. She also make sure to bring some of the fortified milk for me daily. It's nice after having curly fries.

"Ah? There's no reason to pay me back...it's no trouble."

We're sitting together at lunch, away from everyone else. Hinata wasn't terribly popular either, and had to deal with bullying from the other high-class girls.

"I suppose that's fine," I say. "Where is it ported in from?"

"Ah...um, there's a card..." She takes it out of her pocket and hands it to me. This is good, I can tell Luna to make some bulk orders for the house. "I-I don't mind bringing you some either way..."

"If that's what you want, then I can go with it. Thank you, Hinata."

"Of course...you're welcome, Lili." She gives me a bright smile. "Ah, I'll be back in a moment...I wanted to check for something..."

"Take your time," I say as she leaves. As I continue biting into my fries, I notice someone approaching.

"Hey, Lilith."

"Iruka-sensei. To what do I owe the pleasure?" I say in greeting.

"Ah, just came around to check on the kids. You mind if I sit?"

"Please, go ahead."

"Thanks." He takes a seat on the bench beside me. "I was just looking at your reports, and you're amazing. You've already passed by most of the class at this point in the year, you know?"

"Thank you, sensei."

"You're definitely a genius."

"Really? I doubt it. I think that anyone who works hard enough could do this sort of thing." I think on it for a moment. "At least, that was my assumption. Sensei, do I really stand out that much?"

"You really do. Even among the clan children, you're doing very well. It's not very common, but there are stories of children from outside shinobi villages taking to chakra and the shinobi life very quickly. That alone doesn't guarantee success, but..."

"Hm." Perhaps I was different after all. Iruka would know that much, wouldn't he? And he's been honest with me about everything, ever since I entered his classroom. I am special...I see. Then the only thing to do is embrace that strength and use it to move forward.

Midori did say much the same thing, didn't she...I suppose she didn't want to let my head swell up too fast. So this is where I am...potentially a genius of some sort.

"I wouldn't speak too quickly, sensei. There's still work to be done."

"You're different, too. Most children would be excited at hearing that news, and would rush home to tell their parents."

"It hasn't been a conventional journey, exactly," I say before biting into another fry.

"I guess you can tell me more about that later, if you feel like it."

"I just might, sensei." I wipe my mouth with a napkin. "Thank you for your encouragement. It's meant a lot."

"Gotta help the leaves grow, right?" he says with a smile.

"Ah. Sensei...d-did you need something from us?" Hinata asks as she returns.

"No, no. I was just talking to Lilith here about her progress. Speaking of that, you've been improving as well, Hinata. Well done!"

"T-thank you, sensei." She timidly bows before taking her seat.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" I ask her.

"N-no...none today either."

"Hm."

"It's good to see you two together. I really was worried about both of you getting isolated from the class," Iruka says as he gets up. "Anyways, I'll see you later-"

"Iruka-sensei! Help me out!"

Naruto rushes towards us and ends up bumping into the table, making it shake slightly. He holds his side a bit before frantically moving his arms.

"Listen! I forgot my tools at home again-"

"All of them? Again? You're unbelievable," Iruka grumbles. "Alright, just calm down. We'll go to the equipment storage and get you a kit to borrow. Again. Make sure it's back in my hands by the end of the day."

"Alright!"

"I mean it this time."

"Alright, alright! I promise!"

Iruka sighs. "I'll see you girls later. Come on, knucklehead."

"Listen, it was seriously on the list..."

"Yeah, whatever. I seriously should consider letting you flunk that class..."

"What! Sensei, you really can't..."

I can't imagine dealing with that almost every day of the week. Or thinking about it.

Or falling in love with it. I can see Hinata pushing her fingers together, deep in thought.

Seriously. What does anyone see in that idiot?

Today I wake up early for a bath with Luna. It's the day of my ninjutsu midterm.

We sit in the tub together and she tends to my hair expertly as always. No sense in looking less than my best, after all.

"Luna."

"Yes, Miss Lilith?"

"I like girls."

"Hm." I can't see her expression from here, but she sounds unsurprised by my revelation. "Well, I think Mistress Emi will be a bit disappointed...but accepting of you. Shall I keep it a secret for now?"

"Yes. I would like to tell her myself. I've already told Hinata."

"Oh, that's not a problem. Lady Hinata is very quiet...she won't tell a soul. But I suppose you figured that much, hm?"

"I did."

Luna pauses a moment to put something into my hair. It feels cool against my scalp. Her hands start to work again. "Miss Lilith, you're sure that you like girls?"

"I'm sure," I say. "It's not just a lack of interest in men. I like how women look and feel better. They're soft and warm and sensual and..."

"You get a sort of heat in your chest," she finishes.

"Yes."

"I understand. I don't think it's a passing thing...I found myself interested in girls when I was younger, but I kept hearing it was a phase and went out with boys. My papa never said anything, but...he knew. He definitely knew," Luna says with a soft laugh. She runs water through my hair to rinse it. "So he very subtly introduced me to girls from time to time. I didn't notice until I started living on my own, but those were happy days. After that, I was sure that I wanted to be with a woman, and decided to act on those desires. But you're very self-assured, Miss Lilith. As expected of you."

"Hopefully I find someone to be with. I'd rather not become a pervert," I say.

"That's a bit silly to say," Luna says.

"Hm."

"So are there any girls your age that you have an interest in?"

"Not that I know of. The cute ones are all into guys. Like Sasuke."

"I see. From what I've seen, he has some handsome qualities."

"Oh."

"What is it?" Luna asks.

I close my eyes. "You're also a pedophile, then."

Luna sighs, exasperated as she continues to rinse my hair. "Miss Lilith, you are terrible sometimes."

We finish washing up and eat breakfast together. Luna sends me off with a bottle of milk, and she tells me that she will put in the orders for the fortified milk by the end of the day.

I reach the schoolhouse early and use the relative quiet to look over my notes, then head towards my new classroom. With things getting more serious in this second semester, most of our classes will take place in a bigger, wider room. It's essentially a lecture hall, which I don't mind at all.

Iruka is no longer our only teacher, and our class size has doubled after being merged with a few others.

"Today is your big ninjutsu test. We would like you to show us what you've learned so far in terms of more advanced techniques. There's no pressure for them to be battlefield ready, so we'll accommodate you as much as we can in this closed environment."

I feel confident enough. Three techniques, which should suit me well for the time being. Two water, one lightning. This is probably well ahead of the rest of the class, lending credence to what Iruka said the other day. It very well might be genius territory.

We will see what the other instructors think.

Everyone gets a form and sits down at their desk to fill it in. Up to five techniques can be put on at once, the fewest we can submit is two. I submit my three, with the name of the jutsu, the element if applicable, the intended application and any additional effects that I might have observed. When finished, I hand my sheet to one of the instructors. He raises an eyebrow and looks at me before stamping the sheet and putting it into a pile.

Once everyone is done, we head out to the field and the various instructors use their ninjutsu to create or move obstacles as needed. Several of my classmates have impressive looking clan techniques. Shikamaru manipulates his shadow, Choji can make parts of his body massive, and Kiba can have Akamaru transform into a near-perfect clone of himself.

Predictably, Naruto is unable to perform even the most basic ninjutsu. Sakura has filled her sheet with basic arts that she tries to execute as cleanly as possible, but are pretty much worthless.

"Next, Kobayashi." The woman holding up the clipboard lets out a low whistle as she sees my list, then smiles towards me. "Right. Let's see your Lightning Release technique, then."

One of the instructors uses Earth Release to create a large, heavy boulder. I stand at what I think is a reasonable distance from it, focus my chakra, and make an amusingly fitting seal.

Snake.

"Lightning Release: False Darkness."

The spear of lightning shoots forward from my mouth and pierces the boulder, tearing it apart in a jagged burst of light. Definitely needs more work, but I'm satisfied with the result for now. The instructors, who were clearly skeptical, are now standing impressed.

"Where the hell did you learn that?!" Naruto yells.

"My onee-san. She taught me," I reply calmly. Midori gave me the technique scroll during our training, and we did work on it without actually launching the jutsu. This was my first try.

"Eh...? N-no way..."

"That was...really good, Lili," Hinata says quietly from beside me.

"Thank you."

I can feel someone's glare at my back. Turning my head slightly, it's as I expect: Sasuke is staring at me ruefully. Everyone else seems awed at the power displayed or disturbed at how strong I might be. My reputation hasn't exactly improved, but being near the top of the class affords me some respect at the least. I am frequently known as an ice queen.

Barely acceptable.

My demonstration gets me a perfect grade.

The semester moves ahead. I end up studying more often with Hinata in the library, and she seems grateful for it. Iruka gives me more material, but this time its geared towards shoring up my personal weaknesses. He observes and I report.

My genjutsu skill is now developed enough to break basic illusions with ease, and I can identify when I'm trapped. I have speed far beyond that of the rest of the class, and it also allows me to mask any deficiencies in taijutsu or strength. My hope is that I can leverage my strengths so that I'm never exposed too quickly in a confrontation.

The girls have a few sections separate from the boys. Flower arranging is one of them, and it's where the girls gossip the most...about boys, and about each other. I've kept my nose out of it, instead focusing on lessons with Hinata next to me. Though for all her seemingly narcissistic traits...Ino is extremely good at flower arranging and deciphering hidden meanings from each pattern laid out in front of her. She's very much the teacher's pet, and it doesn't hurt that her father is one of the Leaf's higher-ups.

This morning is when she decides to pay me a visit. Her hands go onto her hips as she stares me down.

"So what's your deal, anyways?"

Definitely a bit high on herself. "There's no deal," I say bluntly, pretending to know what she's going on about.

"Are you trying to impress Sasuke?"

"No." I continue with my notes. "I have no interest in boys," I say casually.

Ino seems confused and opens her mouth to speak, then closes it quickly. "Hmph." She flips her blonde hair over her shoulder and walks back to her desk before sitting.

"..."

After taking one last look at me, she goes back to gossiping with the other girls in her circle.

"W-was it okay to tell her?" Hinata asks from beside me.

"It's fine. She didn't understand a word I said," I reply calmly.

"Ah...okay."

I have to wonder what the endgame is. Are they being manipulated into liking him by their families? Or is it something else entirely?

I can't pretend to care too much. Even if I did like boys, his face is far too punchable to stand.

It's now the point where the semester is winding down. We are approaching the end of school and graduation...being slotted into the same year as my other classmates, this means I will be leaving the academy with them at the end of this year. I have to wonder what would happen if I wasn't doing so well, but the infrequent sight of some students older than me and in remedial classes gives a bit of an answer. I would likely repeat the year until I graduated or simply dropped out.

This time of year is frantic. The increased pressure from courses, the rising temperatures, and the beginning of what is informally known as sparring season. Classes are built around the potential for interruption as traditional sparring can take place at nearly any time. Students follow tradition and tend to schedule their fights at times that won't cause as much disruption, but mainly due to the fact that they can get as many people out to watch as possible. These last few months before the final exams are said to be packed with the most call-outs and challenges.

I near the end of an enjoyable lunch, alone this time. Hinata seems to have something to look after. The bottle of fortified milk nears my lips.

"You."

A most unwelcome interruption. And from the most unwelcome of people, to boot.

"Sasuke. May I help you?" I ask calmly.

"We're sparring after lunch," he says. "Feel free to decline if you're scared."

A need to assert dominance. I understand it well enough. My father is much the same.

"I am not foolish. Everyone has already caught wind of your challenge by now."

"Hmph. Clever."

He walks away without another word. Well. This is my first challenge so far, and it's from the class number one. I can decline easily, but it wouldn't look good on me. It's one thing to be labelled an icy bitch, it's another to be called a coward. But fighting him...might be quite troublesome. He's got height and power over me, being a boy.

I find myself thinking of that idiot slacker Shikamaru while I enjoy my milk. This really is a bother.

"Lili..."

Hinata appears in front of me, seeming like she's been running. "I...um, I heard about it..."

"Yes. It's happening after lunch." I take another long sip of my milk. No turning back.

"I'll be cheering you on," she says with confidence. I give her a nod.

"Thank you."

My eyes catch the time on the clock. Ten minutes.

Fine. It's time to get to work.