07 • Dino-pedo-man
Waking up on the floor in a room that's just concrete after being knocked out because you insulted some asshole — is not fun. At all. Especially when there's a small person waiting for you wearing all black and a white, blank mask. The only thing I know of the kid (and it's a kid older physically by five years it seems) is that his hair is black, or maybe it's really dark brown? The lighting here is absolute crap.
"Oi, can you be a gentlemen," because kid obviously isn't a girl with the way he stands, "and inform me of where I am?"
Dead silence was my answer. It would've been awkward if I wasn't over thirty mentally. The kid didn't even twitch. Which is really annoying, it's like the kid doesn't even acknowledge my current existence. I don't really like being out right fucking ignored. Then the kid goes ahead and talks as if I didn't say shit!
"Follow me," was his crisp command. A command. From a fucking eight or nine -year-old. Who expects me to listen like I'm some obedient bitch.
It was not childish of me to cross my arms and fold my legs and outright turn my shoulder to him. Neither was me ignoring the stare I could feel the kid drilling in my head. It's perfectly within my rights. Wait, do I even get rights here? I need to look up the village's rules and shit later some time.
I can still feel the stare but I'm as stubborn as a mule and I'm not going to move. Really, I already knew where I was. This isn't the basement, and this isn't really a cell so I wasn't arrested or anything. It was just a room. Plus the kid kinda gave everything away with his blank white mask. Hell, him even being here gave it away!
Which leads to the most important question: what the fuck am I going to eat later? At least Kizashi had the decency to actually feed me some of his leftovers from lunch, granted I always got food poisoning but still! Who fucking knows what they get served here. Ration bars? Ew. Those things are practically small, portable bricks. Which will be used as such if I get my hands on them.
My very important train of thoughts got derailed when the kid just just grabbed me by my jacket hoodie. It was so abrupt that I nearly choked. But like all jackets, there was zipper and I was soon free. Only to be pinned down with my wrists tied behind my back. Being sat on is not good for possibly broken or bruised ribs. Neither is having a shoulder shoved in them. Actually, being carried over the shoulder isn't fun at all in any situation.
"When they say you gotta 'sweep her off her feet' they don't mean it literally ya know?" I was met with silence which was really annoying. I don't like being ignored, not when I don't want to be. So I tried kicking, only to have my legs bent awkwardly as the kid pinned them under his arms.
Well, then. Brat.
The kid carries me through a abundance of halls. Left, right, left, left, right, oh wait no that was another left. It was boring and too tedious to try and remember. I'd only be remembering my way back to my cell. Quite pointless if you ask me. But no one does. So everyone is left in their stupidity to die.
Then he stops and knocks. So, we arrive. Where? I have no idea. If I'm right though, then we're meeting with Old Man Mummy. Not cool. How the hell does Kizashi even know that crazed bastard? The asshole doesn't have any reason to associate with him. What the fuck changed because this obviously isn't canon. But it never was, was it? Not since my birth. Most certainly not since Mother's death.
What a drag. This is absolutely bullshit.
I was oh so gently placed on the ground (read: dropped like some bag of fucking potatoes) in front of a desk. And behind the metal desk sat a man. Well, not so much a man...
"The years have not been kind to you. Like, at all."
I say one, just one thing, and I'm nearly knocked unconscious again. Honestly, if no one was going to speak the fuck up then I might as well! No one even thanks me for getting this shit of a conversation started! Rude ass fuckers.
The Mummy— actually no, let's call him...Dino. Since it's almost like his actually name and it's degrading because it's a kid word and I suck at nicknames. So, meet Dino.
Dino steepled his fingers on the table as he leaned forward to peer down at me. He look totally unaffected by my insult. Which is an insult to my person.
"Haruno Sakura," he says just like when I first saw him.
"Gasp! You know my name! Oh no! What ever will I do?" I snark while widening my eyes and pretending to be confused and scared.
He didn't buy it. I wouldn't have either but hey, a girl can dream eh? He also didn't appreciate my interruption. If the twitch of his left pinkie was anything to go by. Ah, so he's still vulnerable to some sort of insults. Obviously not any regarding his physical features. Shame. I had so many.
"Haruno Sakura," he repeats but with a little edge to it.
"Old ugly man behind the desk," I return his obviously not-a-greeting.
"My name is Shimura Danzō, child," he spat the word, as if it was going make difference. "One of councilman. It'd be in your best interest to show some respect."
"The fuck you know about my 'best interests'? Did your stupid ass little bugs not see me jump out the fucking window from the highest floor of the god-forsaken building?" I ask incredulously. I know the man has moles, and I'm not talking about the ones on his face.
His eye seems to widen just a bit before he's pinning me a harsh glare. Oh no, a glare from an old geezer! Oh my, what ever will I do? I'm doomed! Pfft—
I fail at keeping my internal laughter, well, internal. Breaking into random cackling (because I don't giggle and like I'm going to laugh in this creepy room, gotta use its creepiness to my advantage) probably isn't a good thing. Then again, you don't see a three-almost-four year old cackle everyday so I say this asshat is our lucky winner.
Dino's lips pull back into a scowl and his hands tighten together as he continues glaring. Then he looks up at my escort and nods sharply. Not sure how a nod equals 'kick the child in the ribs'. They didn't even let me finish my cackling! Everyone here is so fucking rude. Did their mothers teach them nothing!?
The asshat continues to speak, not even waiting for me to finish coughing up blood. "I have a proposition for you Haruno," he starts off and if I wasn't coughing out blood I would've call him a pedophile. "You will join the ranks of ROOT and work explicitly under me. Your father has warned me of your rather foul tongue," he sneers here and I would too if he hadn't nodded again for the boy to punch me as soon as I opened my mouth. "However, I'm more than confident my program will beat that out of you." Over thirty years of being human doesn't just go away, I'm tempted to say but don't, instead I flip him off. My finger is promptly broken.
"Any questions?"
Any questions? Uh, fuck yeah I have questions.
"Why," I start with a slight grimace. My mouth and jaw hurt. Didn't know eight year olds could hit so hard. "Would I work...just under you?" I know all his little masks work under him but I'm sure he doesn't have time to see all of them. If anything he has others assigned for that. I don't question why in the seven hells he wants me to work for him, it'd be useless information and I most likely wouldn't get an answer. If I had to guess however, it'd probably be the fact that I'm in the same age group as all the heirs and little blonde, added with the fact I'm a civilan and wouldn't be missed.
"You will be assigned a very important and life long mission that entails you to report strictly to me," was his prompt answer that didn't explain shit. And I tell him just that.
Can't believe I didn't notice the cane that leaned against his desk.
ʕ •̀ o •́ ʔ
I eye the gloved hands that hold a brush and bottle of ink. After the wonderful meeting with Dino, I was thrown over Escort's (that's going to be his name from now on) shoulder once again. The kid brought me to this other dark and cement room that had a chair in the middle. He tied me to the chair as someone else walked in. This someone else, now named Gloves, is obviously an adult. And male. He wore the same blank white mask as Escort and you could see his brown hair poking outwardly. Maybe he should be called Hedgehog instead.
Hedgehog nodded his head at Escort and I pouted. Escort forcefully grabbed my chin, opened my mouth and pulled out my tongue. Again, how does a nod mean so many things? And how do you differentiate the meanings?
My musings are interrupted when the kid pulls my tongue out harder. His other hand forcing my mouth to stay open. I'm going to have bruises along my jaw later on. Trying to pull away only tugs on my tongue even more. I glare at the man in front of me as he moves closer, brush already dipped in ink. This is just fucking great. If I move I'll possibly get my tongue ripped off and I like being able to insult people. But if I don't, the Hedgehog is going to draw some shit on my tongue. And if I remember correctly — and of course I do, I have the memory of a fucking elephant — the guy is going to put a seal of some sort to keep me silent about this whole place. And I really wanted to shout my lungs out on how Dino is a pedophile. Maybe I still can...
My thoughts are stopped abruptly at the feeling of my tongue being burned. The stupid ass man just fucking went right ahead and drew his stupid ass seal and then he applys fucking chakra while I'm distracted! Asshole!
Shit, don't scream and don't cry. Don't give them that stupid satisfaction. I need a distraction! Anyone else would try to stab themselves or some shit, focusing on the new pain rather than the original. Which I find stupid quite frankly. You're only hurting yourself more and rendering any ability you have to do something useless.
Instead, let's focus on the fact that I'm apparently going to be a ninja for Konoha'a shady ass organization. I mean, I was already going to be a ninja but that doesn't mean I wanted someone else to just fucking decide that! Though, as much as I hate to admit it — and I fucking hate to admit it —, Dino's little group of masks has some benefits.
I'll be ahead of my peers in basically all subjects. There's a wider range of learning. You get trained in what best fits you but also trained in everything else. I get a fucking sword. You don't see an ANBU without a sword. I'll be close to so many village secrets and shit! And, if ever questioned in my knowledge, I can be assured that I did learn it somewhere instead of just from my memories of Anna. All in all, a great deal. Down side is working for Dino the Pedo. Downside is having my loyalty questioned if I'm ever found out. Downside is doing shit I don't fucking want to do. Downside is working for fucking Danzō of all people.
Just fucking great, really.
My face is roughly pushed away once the assholes are done. Hedgehog faces Escort and nods his head towards the left before he takes his leave. Once again, for the fourth or fifth fucking time, how do these people know the differences in the nods!?
I'm not given any time to speculate on that question as I'm untied and thrown over the shoulder once again. Joy.
ʕ •̀ o •́ ʔ
Now, while I'm not too educated on any sort of 'combat training', I'm pretty sure that children beating the absolute shit out of each other doesn't count. At all.
Goes to show how much of an ass Dino is.
Escort left me on a balcony that looks down at a large open area where a bunch of other children (all physically older than me by at least four years) were fighting. There stood adult Masks at the sides observing the children. They didn't speak and they didn't move to intervene when a child was almost killed. They didn't do anything when one child threw their opponent into another pair of children fighting. No one did shit when a child cried out in anguish, having had their arm bent the wrong way, or when one child now had three shuriken stuck in their body.
"Hasn't anyone ever told you hitting your peers is bad?" It was only natural that I was the one to make the room freeze. "Or at the very least killing your peers is bad?" Since this world revolves around beating your peers to improve. Pretty sure these people call it sparring but what do I know? Any sort of training I did before was attending the gym every third night. Learning how to punch or kick someone was done on the field. Except for learning how to shoot someone. I was personally taught how to do that, lest I shoot an ally, or even myself.
"Haruno," one of the Masks called out while stepping towards me. Seriously though, what is it with these strangers knowing my name but not the Old Coot of a Hokage? "You will be training with this group every third day. Every second day you will personally taught. And every day you will receive tutoring."
Uh, what? Since when did I have a training schedule?
There's no use arguing over this matter, since I truly have no say in it. The moment they marked my tongue was the moment I 'agreed' to this. It was the moment I signed over my life. Doesn't mean I'll do shit willingly, or that I won't complain. Will it get me in more trouble than it's worth? Probably. Do I have any self-preservation? Quite frankly, no. If this 'program' is going to esstaintionaly be my death than I would like to die knowing I annoyed the absolute fuck out of everyone here.
How depressing. I have no life goals. At least as Anna I had the goal of obtaining enough money to buy a mansion out in the country — or so I told everyone. Really I just wanted to be able to go the hell and meet some demons and possibly upsurge the Devil. Look at how well that went.
"What about my sleeping quarters or lunch?" And what of that first day?
My schedule is practically this:
Monday, tutoring
Tuesday, personal training and tutoring
Wednesday, group training and tutoring
And so on. My First days are practicllay free. Or is tutoring going to be an all day sort of thing? I hope not. I didn't go to College for a reason people.
"Danzō-sama has specified that you are to return back to your home to keep an appearance," Mask answers only one of my questions. Looks like I'm stuck with Kizashi's food poisoning. Better than dry rations or whatever they serve here. The appearance part makes some sense. Don't want people thinking I'm dead or something. Even though I might as well be.
"Right," I drawl as my eyes scan the children that went back to fighting after Mask first spoke. "So why the hell am I here?"
"Your first group training starts now."
Well, fuck. At least that means tomorrow will just be tutoring. Though, eyeing the ruthlessness of the children before me, that is if I live until tomorrow. It's truly a sad thing when a thirty-something-year-old woman becomes worried over the fact that her own death will be at the hands of some second graders.
It's an even sadder thing when second graders are learning how to kill.
ʕ •̀ o •́ ʔ
So sorry for the long wait everyone!
My inspiration for this chapter kind of...disappeared. Prompting me to rewrite this chapter around two times.
Heheh...Right well, no excuses.
Hope you enjoyed though!
QUESTION:
What should Sakura's training include? Ideas?