Hello my dear friends. Here we are with another chapter that I hope you will enjoy.
Whoever thought it was smart to schedule my introduction to new senseis on a Sunday morning deserves to burn in the darkest and hottest part of hell. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind if it was a weekday, even if it was at 5 in the morning, but definitely not a weekend. Many people would prefer to do something on a weekend morning rather than get up at 4-5, literally before the sun even rises, but that's not the case for people with ADHD.
It is specific that we have very big difficulties to keep the sleeping schedule constant. People with ADHD have a habit of delaying the time for bed either because of hyperfixation on the project, they find something else that must be completed before bed, they overthink it making it difficult for the mind to relax and fall asleep, it has too much energy unused to fall asleep... But like any neurotypical living being, when they reach that level of lack of sleep, the body shoots down by itself for some 15-20 hours, more or less. So from a young age I forced myself to have a somewhat more efficient sleeping schedule, with the help of my grandfather. The trick was that on the weekdays starting with Monday I function on my ADHD clock. Getting up very early and staying up very late, doing my creative projects, reading, or learning something that fascinates me. After which around Friday I would get very tired and then my body would just fall asleep very early and I would sleep for the next almost 20 hours, I would oversleep and wake up very late on Saturday and be what my mom would say lazy for the rest of the day.
Sunday was mostly unpredictable, sometimes my energy would come back, sometimes I'd have another lazy day... After which my insomnia and my high energy levels would return. Unfortunately today was one of the lazy days, so I was quite sleepy and groggy when I had to get up this morning. And I was one hundred percent convinced that Jiraiya was behind this because I woke him up before dawn two days in a row for lessons. Both times he spent the first twenty minutes grumbling and yelling at me, then finally calmed down enough to give me lessons, which were quite helpful. Although the second time he got angry on that, I was using him more like an encyclopedia than letting him talk. And a few times I could have sworn his heart stopped in fear when I started drawing a seal on the spot or trying to activate some untested "attempt" of mine, as Jiraiya would call them.
And in all of this Naruto was a true sweetheart, he scolded the sannin a couple of times for yelling at me instead of helping me. He even tried to kick sage few times. For that, I let him have ramen for dinner all week, even though our original agreement was that if he got up early with me, he could have ramen for dinner that day and whatever he wanted for dessert. I felt a little sorry for Tenzo in all of this, who stopped by for dinner a couple of times, and instead of preparing a home-made dish, we went to Ichiraku. But that's why I made mountain baklava last night, which I planned to take to him today after training. I was sure he would love them since walnuts are his favorite food. I also had another reason to finish this meeting and training as soon as possible.
According to what Jiraiya told me they assigned me three sensei for each category specifically taijutsu, genjutsu and of course ninjutsu. And since the sannin said that they voluntarily agreed to this I could assume that for taijutsu it was most likely Gai, with his youthful spirit and optimistic attitude. For genjutsu, it is most likely Itachi, probably wanting the real sparring that I promised him a long time ago and never got around to it. For ninjutsu there are a couple of options like Asuma who is a wind chakra user, it wouldn't surprise me if it was Tenzo since he also has water type chakra due to his wooden style.
In any case there were very few who would willingly agree to help the Uzumaki taking care of the jinchuriki. Also, probably thanks to Mizuki, some gossip started to spread through the academy and the village, and my so-called colleagues ignored me even more, which of course suited me perfectly. Fewer idiots to get on my nerves during the day the better.
As I slowly approached the memorial stone, on the training ground in front of me, I could see recognizable figures standing. Or in Gai's case heard his shout about youthful spirit loud and clear. The moment Gai noticed me he ran at me at full speed grabbing my shoulders shouting at my face. ,, You are really an excellent example of youthful spirit Maxi-san. Despite your weak chakra usage, you managed to rise to chunin rank in a short time and now maybe even jonin. It would be my honor to help ignite your youthful flame..." The green ninja shouted throwing his arm over my shoulder in a brotherly hug as he dragged me towards the other two who were waiting for us, still talking about his spirit of youth.
I've never been more grateful than when Gai let go of me. I usually don't mind physical contact or all that energy, but today I didn't have enough to waste it just like that despite pouring myself ashwagandha, black tea, ginger and ginkgo biloba tea this morning, hoping that my brain would function somewhat normally.
The other two took this opportunity to say goodbye while Gai continued his outpourings of energy and support. "Long time no see Maxi-nee." Itachi greeted with a slight nod of his head. The little rascal hadn't even had time all week to stop by the academy to say hello, nor did he say hello when he flew past me on my way to visit Mikoto a few days ago, "You know, little one. I started to worry that something was wrong, you know. I haven't seen you for more than a month, and now you're my new sensei." I said trying to sound as positive as possible with a slight smile on my face, rubbing his neat hair tousling it a little then placing my hand on his shoulder giving him reassuring squeeze. "It's good to see you alive and well." Itachi didn't object to the contact, he put his hair back in a neat low ponytail and still didn't move or try to remove my hand from his shoulder.
I kind of expected Itachi to try to repel the contact from the beginning but for some reason he didn't care which was suspicious to me. But I didn't see his interaction in anime with others except Sasuke, his former team members, for Akatsuki it was other story and anbu missions. The only person he was close to that came to mind was Shisui, who was standing a few steps away from him laughing at our interaction taking the opportunity to come up and tease Itachi a little. ,, Little one, it fits you well." Shisui said wiping the non existent sue from his face finally calming down his laughter as Itachi glared at him with a look that literally kills. "Shut up, Shisui." Itachi muttered as Shisui introduced himself. "My name is Shisui Uchiha, but please just call me Shisui. I'll be helping you with your genjutsu." he politely introduced himself with a slight bow of the head and a big smile on his face.
Definitely the most positive and smiling Uchiha I've ever met. He was barely shorter than me by a couple of inches, if I wasn't mistaken he should be about the same age as Tenzo around 14. It's simply unbelievable to me that the kid in front of me is the famous Shisui of body flicker, the person in front of whom they were ordered to retreat immediately. Honestly at first glance he looks like a sweet decent always smiling normal kid who wouldn't even hurt a fly. But seriously, both Shisui and Itachi and almost all Uchiha wear navy blue shirts with collars. I mean I understand that their greatest strength is the Sharingan and that the collar is about to the nose more or less, but isn't it a bit inconvinient... ,, Maxi-san..."
Shusui called me loudly with his hand half extended in front of him as if he was unsure if should he touch me or not.. ,, Tell me goofball, What's with the Uchiha and the navy blue color." Shisui looked at me confused for a second, then started giggling at my question, which I believe was unexpected by them. On the other hand, I think I saw a smile on Itachi's face when I called Shisui a goofball. "I have no idea, it's always been like that in the clan, so I've never even thought about it." He answered honestly and removed the smile from his face. "If you find out, I hope you'll let me know goofball. So…that means my ninjutsu sensei must be Itachi." I turned to Itachi expecting him to confirm but instead he just shook his head confusing me a bit. Because if he is not here as my third sensei then who and why is he here. "I wanted to see more of your unusual technique and maybe some sparring." It was beyond adorable how he made his sweet little smile and his big black sparkling eyes. I just want to hug him in a bear hug and pinch his cheeks. How could a 11 years old child to be this cute.
"Of course. But then who is my ninjutsu sensei?" This time Gai interjected, finally ending his long monologue that none of us had been paying attention to. "That would be my eternal rival, Kakashi Hatake..." After hearing that Kakashi was one of my sensei, I first thought it was a joke but this is Gai we're talking about so it's probably true. That would explain why is my last sensei late. And Kakashi's with his delay… they can last for several hours.
What didn't swing with me was that Hiruzen and Jiraiya said that all three were volunteers, and Kakashi certainly wouldn't be either. It would be easier to convince the dead man to volunteer for something like this. I mean the last two times he literally left me to do all work alone, except the second time he left the scrolls which I have to admit were very helpful. But it still doesn't deny the fact that it's totally out of his character. ,,We're talking about the same Kakashi Hatake here. The silver-haired ninja who likes to read porn, always late and has no will to interact with anything alive... That Kakashi."
I asked them still unable to believe it, and judging by the faces of the two Uchiha, they weren't sure how it happened either. Their shrugs and Shisui's nervous smile were more than enough as Gai with his bright smile stood in front of us and said. ,, As the saying goes, don't judge a book by its cover. There is still a youthful spirit in my rival. Maybe this is a challenge as to which one of us is the better sensei..." Gai said proudly while I was already lost half way not having the brain power to listen to him or figure out what kind of hell awaits me with him and Kakashi as my sensei, and to their challenges. Oh god have a mercy, I thought, sighing deeply, wanting to start this as soon as possible, hoping that my dopamine level would jump during training, or at least wake up my body from this paralysis, then let's not waste time ,, How about we start." I suggested to which all three nodded.
,Me and my big mouth that can't stay closed when it needs to be., I scolded myself preparing for a sparring match against Gaia. I still couldn't believe that I had agreed to this so easily, knowing full well that Gai was specialized in taijutsu and that he definitely wasn't going to let me get away that easily without a serious fight. And it's my own fault because I let him convince me that sparring would be the best way to determine my skill level. Although when Itachi suggested that I spar with him or Shisui instead of Gai, I couldn't agree so easily because I knew very well that they are not to be underestimated even though they are kids. Simply, no matter how you turn the situation, I could not escape from the beating. Although I knew very well that the exam would be much harder than this sparring and probably more deadly, I still didn't like the idea of fighting a muscle monster like Gai.
Gai and I stood facing each other about fifteen meters apart waiting for Shisui to give us the signal to start. In my head, I've already started thinking of a way to get out in one piece and last as long as I can. I took a bigger lunge with my legs bent at the knees, distributing my weight so that I could shift my center of balance quickly and have mobility. One arm was higher in front and at the height of the face ready to sew the front part and the head while the other was closer to the breastbone ready to protect the abdomen. My eyes didn't dare take their eyes off of Gai knowing that she possessed incredible speed that I did not possess.
He stood in a wide-open side stance with one arm curled into a tight fist at his waist and the other straight in front of him curled into a karate chop-like stance. The moment Shisui signaled the start, Gai had already teleported in front of me, preparing to deliver a powerful blow to my chest. My instincts and reflexes were quick enough to grab his wrist with one hand and with the palm of my other hand I stamped his body in the abdomen, lowering myself so that Gai simply flew over me hitting the ground a meter away causing the ground to crack at the point of impact.
If that wasn't a warning to me to get serious, then nothing else could. I could have sworn that Gai smiled slyly before he began to attack me intensely without pause. I barely manage to maintain some pace in deflecting his blows. The attempts were not the most successful as I received a couple of blows to my legs and one blow to the shoulder launched me a few meters away from him despite my attempts to grab onto the grass and somehow get back on my feet faster. Then I noticed as I stood up that Gai had taken a break. ,, Considering your background as a civilian, your martial arts are not bad. But you can't win a fight if you don't try to attack."
He had a point, but no matter what I tried I was sure no match for his strength and speed so I had to go on the defensive until he came up with something better. So I had to be smarter here. . I finally decided to listen to the Gai and go on the attack trying to do at least some damage. This time I switched from my judo technique to the capoeira style, hoping that it would give me more unpredictability and maybe I could make an opening for attack.
For the next half hour, and maybe more, Itachi and Shisui watched me try to land a punch on Gai, who threw me left and right the moment I managed to grab him but didn't hit him. The longer the fight went on the more awake and energized I was feeling alive again, but it probably wouldn't last if Gai got a little more serious and one stronger punch him could send me straight to the hospital. Which I slowly began to think was his intention.
Almost an hour after I started to go on the offensive, Gai's right hand started to shake more and more intensely as I was shaking all the time. This time, I tried to grab more of the left hand that he was more open, and there were points on it that would cause tingling and trembling in the hand.
Somehow I managed to weaken his defense in my estimation so that I can start with a direct attacking style of Kung fu, more precisely a combination of Wing Chun and Xingyiquan styles. By combining these two styles, it allowed me to efficiently and explosively use the energy I would bring into attacks. And since both styles were for melee combat, matching was much more effective. With this one the good thing was that Gai now had limited use of his hands, the bad news was that he was able to fight without them so it was no problem for him to easily switch to a different style.
As the fight went on, Gai seemed more and more alive and it seemed that every minute he was putting more and more power and speed into his moves, so I began to doubt that I would last much longer. My hands were starting to get tired and I wasn't sure if there was a place where they could breathe or if they were getting some rips or tears from the constant pounding on the ground.
,, That would be enough for now." Gai suddenly stopped and composed himself without giving any indication of an ambush attack, while I was still in my fighting stance ready to attack if necessary. ,, You can take a short break now before Shisui and Kakashi begin the second part of their training." I looked surprised at Gai, who was pointing in the direction where Shisui and Itachi were standing, and behind them, leaning on one of the pillars around the memorial stone, stood Kakashi, reading the same book he bought when we were together in the bookstore.
He didn't leave that place until Gai and I were completely close, and I immediately fell on the ground from exhaustion, feeling my adrenaline leave my body, but the dopamine level was still high enough that I now feel refreshed and energized. "You're not an ordinary civilian, are you?" He asked Shisui with a more serious look in his eyes and an almost flat smile on his face while his body was fully straightened and not relaxed like a few hours ago when Gai and I started training.
It's probably it was unusual for a civilian to have the level of martial arts knowledge I did for them, while in my world it was completely normal. It was clearly skeptical for Shisui, so he ask for an explanation of my knowledge and skill in combat, so I tried to avoid lying to him because I didn't want to by chance, he uses the Sharingan on me. "My uncles trained me since I was 5 years old. They were local policemen, so I trained with my cousins for a little over a decade. Does this answer your question?" I asked him.
I could see the surprise on their faces especially Gai who as always did not hide his emotions while Kakashi finally lifted his nose from the book and looked at me in surprise. The Uchiha duo just nodded their heads satisfied with my answer for now, as well as the little pride that could be seen in their eyes. Probably because their clan was also the Konohagakure police and we had another thing in common.
"Why did they train you from childhood if you didn't want to become a policeman but a sensei?" Itachi asked with his curious look. It was a somewhat tricky question to answer because I wasn't even sure which answer was correct and wasn't quite willing to share sensitive things like that. "They saw something in me that I wasn't. But in the end it was my decision, who I would be." I answered them honestly, not wanting to explain anything more, noticing that with my answer, the positive energy dropped a lot and that a large number of questions started piling up in their minds. Questions that I was neither ready nor wanted to answer.
,, In any case, your taijutsu is something new that I haven't had the chance to see yet, and it seems like you have a good grip on what you know, you use your head solidly during the fight. The only problem is your speed and strength, which we'll work on regularly so you'll be ready for the exam." Gai told me, miraculously not yelling at the top of his voice and attitude about youthful spirit. Somehow I couldn't believe that I It took two and a half months to get myself up to speed and strength to match the jonins I was going to fight against. But I wasn't going to lose hope at the beginning. The first steps are always the hardest but if we put Gai into the equation this will be the way to hell and back..But I was convinced that it would benefit me in the long run. I was certainly praying that Gai wouldn't somehow convince me to wear the green ridiculus jumpsuit. I wasn't sure who would invent that thing and where he was wearing it , how impractical it is, especially when you need to use the toilet.
,,...Maxi-san..Are you okay?" Shisui asked me with his hand out in front of me, offering to help me up. I nodded and accepted the help to stand up, even though my body was protesting starting to feel the effects of my sparring with Gai, now the adrenaline was draining from my system. In addition to the sore muscles, I had several strained and dislocated muscles, along with bruises covering most of my face on my arms and right abdomen, as well as several larger bloody lacerations on my elbows, knees, and palms. ,, Don't worry Goofball, I'll be fine just give me a minute." I spoke to Shisui reassuring him.
I took a deep breath and tried to focus on my chakra while humming the melody, channeling it through the bruised and cut areas in a continuous flow. After a couple of seconds, my bruises started to slowly disappear and the wounds closed to the point where they were barely noticeable but not completely healed. Channeling the chakra and turning it into a medicine chakra at the same time relaxed my muscles creating relief in my body. "You can already perform medical ninjutsu?" Kakashi asked me with a questioning but at the same time interested tone, while Gai looked at me with tears in his eyes and a big smile.
,, This is extraordinary, it usually takes months and years for him to be able to pull off medical ninjutsu so easily. You must be a genius to master it so quickly." Gai shouted holding my fists in his like a proud friend. But I didn't like the compliment he gave me. Kakashi had a curious look in his eye that he tried to hide with his lazy dismissiveness. Shisui, on the other hand, seemed a bit skeptical, but not to the extent that it worried me, or he was just hiding his emotions and had good control of his body and impressions.. Of course, he is a jonin after all his emotions were child's play to him, I thought and turned to Gai pulling my hands towards me, "I'm no genius Gai. Even without chakra I possess the great medical knowledge necessary to perform jutsu along with years of experience ,so the only thing left for me is to practice controlling and creating the medical chakra." I explained to him.
I could see that they were interested in the story and all that, but I was not in favor of explaining more than was necessary. I usually can't shut up, but now I wanted to finish this training as soon as possible and go home to Tsuki and Naruto. I would like to hug Tsuki and bury my face in his soft, warm fur right now. ,, Genius or not, you definitely show promise. And since both medical ninjutsu and genjutsu require good chakra control, genjutsu won't be a problem for you." Susui commented positively, somewhat accepting my correction to Gai, not wanting to push me any further.
Although I felt bad for having to disappoint him. ,, My genjutsu skills are zero." This shocked all four of them. Especially Itachi who never seemed to think that someone with promising med-nin skills could not have any genjutsu abilities. Genjutsu takes a lot more concentration and is based purely on focus. On the other hand, for med-nin, I knew how the body works and since I practiced mostly on myself, I could feel when something was wrong and correct myself. For genjutsu, it was a another story because I had almost no idea what and how to do the theoretical part alone. I didn't even see anyone try to put me under genjutsu, or they did but I didn't notice. "You're kidding right?" Shisui asked me to which I just shook my head as I stretched my body to put the dislocated muscles back in place.
They probably didn't expect that since I had quickly mastered a certain number of lower ninjutsu ranks that I might be capable of decent genjutsu. I could already see that Shisui would have the most difficulty with me. Especially with this little time for me to prepare for the exam, there was no chance that I would be able to finish practicing genjutsu and ninjutsu on my own, in addition to preparing the seal and training med- nin technique with Hana. ,, Shisui, we could focus primarily on being able to get rid of genjutsu and detect it. Uzumak are not known for genjutsu skills because of the large amount of chakra." Shisui didn't make any problem with my proposal to believe because he is aware of how little time I have to prepare and the illusions require a lot of time. If I could somehow get good enough at detecting and releasing genjutsu, that was more than enough for me. "It's fine in my opinion. But that doesn't mean I'm going to make it easy for you." He told me with his big smile.
But what else could I expect from him. In the anime and manga he always seemed like a nice person with compassion and understanding, I'm glad that's the case in reality. At that moment, my stomach decided to growl loud enough that I could have heard it from everyone in Konohagakure. Shisui and Gai were the first to chuckle, while Itachi had just calm polite smile and Kakashi whom still wasn't participating much in the conversation his facial expression, or rather his eyes, almost shouted, Seriously,.. ,, How about a break. I brought enough food for everyone." I said to which everyone agreed and even the grumpy Kakashi. It was almost noon already and all that fighting with Gaia had definitely worn me out, so I really needed food if I planned on continuing.
I pulled out a storage scroll from my purse and used some chakra, and in a second a picnic basket formed from the scroll in front of me. I took out seven large bentos in front of us, and each one contained something different. There was something from each group, in one there was rice, grilled deer meat that Tsuki caught the other day, grilled mushrooms, salads and of course I also packed some baklava from last night. And when I say the boxes were big, I meant that each one was big enough to contain a meal for an entire family of three. Because, believe it or not, ninjas consume three times more calories, protein, fat and everything than civilians, which seemed logical.
Gai was the first to dive into the food as if he hadn't eaten in weeks, but still Gai never hides his emotions. Following him is Itachi, who, unlike Gaia, consumes it more slowly and politely, while out of the corner of his eye, Kakashi and Shisui looked for a moment, and then he seemed to do something unusual. I realized what it was when I saw that Kakashi was sniffing the food before starting to eat with Shisui. "You know if I wanted to poison you, there's a much more discreet and easier way." Which caught Kakashi's attention as he looked at me in surprise for some reason. He didn't seem offended by my comment but I was still waiting for him to finally say more than a solid sentence.
This shinobi paranoia she was literally using my nerves like jumping rope. And after I dragged his ass back to the village and after our conversation before he left for the mission, he still thinks I'll try to kill him the second I get the chance. For Shisui, I can't even blame him. He doesn't even know me for six hours, so it's somewhat justified because I'm more or less a mystery to him unless Itachi told him something about me. It wasn't first time for him to eat my homemade food, so there's no doubt about me, although the first time both Mikoto and her sons come to my place for tea. I would serve a snacks with tea and If they cheak it for poison I didn't notice. But Gai has a body a strong enough to run to the hospital and be treated in time.
"Interesting. And how would you pull that off?" Kakashi asked lowering his chopsticks and finally making direct eye contact as Shisui and Gai watched us while eating and Itachi didn't seem overly excited about this as if it was something normal. I smiled at taking his question as a challenge. After all, Kakahi never says something like that for no reason, or in this case asks.., I could dip the tips of the chopsticks in a concentrated solution of thallium's salt. It's tasteless, odorless, smelless , nor does it change the appearance of the wood visibly but the wood absorbs it. The first symptoms would appear after 12 hours, so that I would have enough time to treat myself after the training so that it would not be suspicious and that it would not be obvious that I was the culprit." I smiled as I explained how easily I could have poisoned them since none of them had remembered to check their cutlery.
All four looked at me surprised and taken aback. I guess they didn't expect a civilian, or rather me. I looked at Itachi who seemed to think about what I explained without panicking, as if I had given him very interesting information. It still didn't occur to me how he could trust me just like that, but I didn't want to complain. Shisui and Gai looked at their chopsticks while Kakashi looked at me like some kind of criminal for a few seconds, like I really did it but then he just exhaled almost imperceptibly taking the next bite of food. "You have a good head on your shoulders. There might be a good chance you'll pass the exam after all." Kakashi complimented me which left me somewhat speechless in amazement. I watched as the food disappeared behind his genjutsu mask realizing this was Kakashi's way of telling me he trusted me as he continued that he was eating food despite my description of how easily I could have poisoned him.
When I pulled the next bite to my face, I noticed that instead of a mushroom, it was a lump of worms. I didn't panic, but I looked in the boxes and saw that they were replaced by different bugs. I immediately cupped my palms making a sign close my eyes softly saying, "KAI" focusing chakra through my body, especially my head to break the genjutsu. When I opened mine everything was back to normal as Shisui was smiling when I looked at him. ,, You were under a very weak and obvious genjutsu for two whole minutes. You will have to react faster to detect them. During the fight, a second can decide between life and death." For the rest of the lunch, Shisui threw me under different genjutsu every few minutes, most of which I didn't even notice. Even Itachi laughed at how I didn't notice them, and I laughed to myself. But something also said Itachi was in on it too. It was official, I suck in genjutsu.