It was a lucky thing that Biwako reminded me about meeting with Sensei. So much had happened today that I'd forgotten he wanted to see me. It wasn't too weird for teachers to see their students outside of class. You couldn't go a day without seeing one student or another waiting in the hall for their teacher to call them back in. Sensei often has students stay behind to discuss how their spars went that day.
'Skilled and tactical but needs to work on caution and underestimating the opponent,' was my last evaluation if you were curious.
It was still odd for us to meet on the weekend, not to mention the scroll I'd been given. I would've opened this thing if it hadn't been shut tight with a wax seal. Trying to hold it up to the sun and read it didn't work either. And I'm not sure Sensei would believe it was from Biwako if I broke the mark.
The woman was well known for being the hokage's wife. It was a little demeaning of the woman's skill. She's a jonin for good reason and was known as the greatest med-nin in the world before Tsunade. At least, that's what Shizune said before we split off.
That Biwako knew I was meeting with Sensei made me even warier of opening up the scroll. The idea of it was disturbing enough to force me into compliance. I wasn't important enough to keep tabs on. My past life might have made me into something of a prodigy, but I wasn't even the most famous one in class. That seat was well worn by Hyuga Hide's annoying ass.
Maybe she had sent an Anbu to Sensei and they worked it out? She was gone long enough and they could move fast. Sensei's class was famous enough that she might've been keeping tabs on him and I just happened to be there.
I put it out of mind once I spotted sensei at the training grounds. There would be time to worry myself to death later. I was going to ride the high of being rewarded for committing treason for at least a few days before then.
"Howdy Sensei! I have a-"
"I know. Follow me," he said before turning towards the academy and making his way inside.
I shadowed him quietly as we made our way through unfamiliar hallways. Three lefts, a right, and two nondescript doors brought us to a staircase that only went down. He didn't wait for me to get over my apprehension at descending the dark stairs. Forcing me to take them two at a time to catch up.
They took us deeper than I would've expected. I never knew the academy had a basement. It made a certain amount of sense, being a ninja village and all. You'd think it would be something closer to a shelter rather than the horror movie set we were walking into.
I'd guess we were about three stories down before the stairs opened out into a long hallway. Not quite dilapidated, but dark enough to give the impression of it. The few lightbulbs that lit our path flickered and droned at random intervals. Paint was cracking up and down the walls, and the hallway stretched on far enough that I couldn't tell when it ended.
Sensei's silence during the walk was starting to grate on me by the time we reached our destination. A huge room that looked like someone removed the desks from our classroom and expanded the sparring ring to fill the entire thing. The lighting was annoyingly good for how poorly lit everything else had been.
"I'll lead you back once we're done. You will make the trip alone after this."
"What about the lock?"
The key thrown at my head alleviated that concern. The paper he handed over made my cheeks hurt with how big I smiled. Shigaki-sensei, ever the grump, responded to my beaming face with a grunt.
"Your reward for failing to make the top three. Pour your chakra into it until it gives a reaction."
He didn't have to tell me twice. It only took a slight push of chakra for the paper to react. Sensei gave an exhausted sigh as he saw what had happened. My paper was soaked with water and split in half. I had been rooting for lightning. Being dual-natured was one hell of a consolation prize. It was rare in Konoha to have two affinities, but not unheard of. Sensei had already moved on to reading the letter from Biwako while I was busy fantasizing about being a cooler Tobirama.
"Stop playing with the paper and get over here," he barked out. Only continuing after getting my full attention, "Wind and water are an acceptable combination. Wind is best used offensively or as support and water is extremely versatile but costly without a big enough source to draw on."
"How do I train them? My chakra doesn't feel like it's split into two types," I asked, playing dumb. I already knew the basics of how it worked, but I didn't have a good explanation for why. Sensei opened a canteen on his hip before answering and began creating a ball of water that floated between us, pulsating in size and form.
"Water is all about creating a consistent flow with your chakra. The body does something similar on its own but more haphazard than what is needed for a skilled kunoichi. Chakra beats with the heart, pushing and pulling in a constantly changing rhythm," The ball of water split into dozens of little streams that flowed out and around us. Turning into tiny waterfalls that forgot how to hit the ground.
"Your goal is to remove the rhythm from it entirely. A stream can twist and turn in a million different ways for a million miles, but the water flows regardless. Try it with internal chakra for a moment, and then we'll work on another exercise."
Without warning, the water drew back into a ball and almost lackadaisically crawled through the air back into the canteen.
I'd forgotten how magical chakra could be. It gets used so often as a means to an end that you can almost forget its mysticism. Mother told me it was the lifeblood of the world or the soul's earthly incarnation. I'd be willing to believe it if it wasn't for the whole reincarnation thing.
Sensei was more in his element than going over nature release than I'd ever seen him in the classroom. He was good at teaching students no matter how grumpy he got. I got the impression he hated dealing with that many children more than teaching itself. It was odd to me that he didn't take on a genin team or an apprentice. I was pretty sure Shigaki-sensei was a jonin.
Forgive me if I don't ask the grump.
"Stop daydreaming and get to it."
There's the Sensei I know and love. I dropped to the floor and got into a meditative position. It was easy enough to feel my chakra even during a fight. I wouldn't be able to be a kunoichi if I couldn't. But meditation was an excellent way to get a deeper connection before trying something new. There was just one thing bugging me before I got started.
"You said chakra beats with the heart right? It isn't going to kill me if I mess this up… right?"
The glare wasn't a good response, but I took it for the command that it was. I began immersing myself in my chakra, swimming through the tenketsu until I found the pathways that connected them. Then I just breathed.
In. Out. In. Out. In and out.
The rhythm was easy to find once I started looking for it. Chakra enhanced growth and exercise had transformed my heart into a steady conductor. I had the resting heartbeat of an Olympic athlete, but it wasn't the blood flow I was looking for. Just as Sensei had said, my chakra moved with each beat. Thinking about it as similar to blood flow was a decent analogy even it didn't exactly fit.
It wasn't like my chakra was cycling in and out of the heart and running through veins. There wasn't a set path that it followed. It was more like tides coming in and out, and my entire body was the ocean. It moved every which way, sharply changing momentum with each beat. A chaotic dance tuned to a harmonious melody.
The spectacle of it all distracted me for a moment before I remembered why I was here. Break the rhythm and turn it into a flow. Getting there was much easier than I expected, though it made sense once I thought about it. My chakra has always been eager to be ordered around. Why would this be any different?
I started out small, taking over a section of the tide and moving it to my whims. I took that little piece and started whirling it around me, picking up steam and more sections along the way. On and on, I tamed the ocean. The resistance I expected to meet never came, only a flow swaying back and forth to my tune.
I opened my eyes with a cocky grin and looked at Sensei to brag—wait, where is he?
"Gave up already? Most people make it past the hour and a half mark."
I whirled around to find him sitting on a chair that hadn't been in the room a moment ago. He seemed almost disappointed. I couldn't tell if it was due to the misconception or his free time being interrupted. Either way, I wasn't about to let him think I was less than perfect with this for a moment.
"I didn't give up. I got my chakra to flow just like you said."
He moved my way with a frown. Stopping right on top of me and staring down. Damn his height and damn him for standing over me while my legs were still asleep.
"Show me then."
I dipped back down underneath the surface, mutedly feeling his hand on my head to sense what was happening. What had felt like a marathon came back to me in a sprint. My chakra had gotten a taste of being used for something more than party tricks, and was thirsty to get back to it. I'd gotten it to flow the way I wanted in no time. I wonder if sensei could sense the spiritual middle finger I tried to give him.
I deployed a smug smile right in his face once I opened my eyes. It was met with a frown and a tired look. Whatever was going through his mind disappeared as he noticed my attentiveness. Replaced with the normal grumpiness. I knew he was back to normal once he ignored my raised hand and stood without helping me up.
Sensei is such a dick. If Kakashi acts like this I'll let him shish kabob Rin without remorse.
"You're in a… unique situation," he forced out before continuing. "Focusing on water would normally be best for you. It can take years for someone to master an element to acceptable levels, even with an affinity. But you still have a few years in the academy that you can spend focusing on becoming proficient in wind and water. That is if your little show wasn't a fluke."
"What if I graduate next month?"
A tilt of a head and a raised eyebrow gave me his opinion on my prospects. I hadn't shown off any of the academy three or genjutsu in class yet, so his skepticism was understandable. That didn't keep it from pissing me off, but Sensei was an expert at eliciting that from everyone who had the misfortune of seeing him.
I would have ignored his suggestion either way. I already knew how to train with wind. It would've been more challenging without his pointers. I was confident that I still could've figured it out. If I was going to follow Hiruzen's path to S-rank, I'd have to master elements sooner rather than later.
Though it wasn't like not mastering an affinity would keep me from using its jutsu. A ninja can utilize basic jutsu from any element with practice and decent chakra control. If I worked on a D-rank earth jutsu for a couple of months, I'd be able to use it in the field well enough. The difference between that and mastery is efficiency and effectiveness. I'd never be able to use it without at least some hand seals. It would also cost a lot more chakra than it was worth, and it wouldn't be half as good as someone who had mastered the element.
Not to mention learning that way doesn't help you much for learning another jutsu from the same element. The hand seals brute force your chakra into a suitable state. Much different from learning to mold the chakra directly like I am for water. Mastery over an element was required to learn any decent amount of jutsu or create your own.
"Please teach me both Shigaki-sensei."
We spent a couple more hours down there working our way through the basic internal molding techniques for both elements. Wind came as easily as water, though it made me dizzy to try to quickly switch back and forth between the two of them. Sensei smacked the back of my head once he realized what I was doing.
The lack of windows made it hard to judge, but I thought it was dark when Sensei ended it. I was disappointed that we didn't get to work on training with leaves. I managed to get over it with a long stretch. My butt had gone numb an hour ago, so sacrifices had to be made.
Leaf training was going to be interesting. It was similar to what Naruto did but with a lot more steps. Cut the leaf once, then in two directions, four, eight, and finally sixteen. Then cut two leaves following the same progression. We would move on to something else afterward, I assume cutting wood, but maybe we would go straight to a waterfall.
Water training is quite different. There are three distinct stages with the first leaf before using more than one at a time. Well, four steps now that I think about it. Until you get good enough to convert chakra to water or pull it out of the air, you first must connect your chakra to a water source. Then you can start using the leaf.
The first stage was to surround a leaf with water without getting it wet, then put all the water in the leaf to make it soggy like chakra paper, and last, draw all the water out so it dries out the leaf completely. That last part had me more excited than anything else. Could you draw water out of any living thing like that, or was there a limit? Using it on people seemed a bit too Orochimaruy for me, but I know who I'd choose if it ever came down to me or someone else.
"I won't bother going over the next steps until you finish these. So don't bother me unless you get stuck on something for over a month. And if you bring anyone down here this will be the last lesson you ever get," he said before herding me out of the room and back into the murder hallway.
I was okay with his demands. The longer most people underestimated me the better I'd be off. The higher-ups would know. Shigaki-sensei being the one to teach me meant my affinities and training would be in my file no matter what. I wouldn't lose sleep over it as long as I could keep my poison use and true physical capabilities hidden. There was still an obvious need to be recognized on some level.
Being known as a strong kunoichi was why I worked so hard in the first place. Admittedly, how the village keeps track of its ninja's capabilities was a mystery to me. In the academy, we're regularly reported on and watched by multiple people. That bingo book and rankings existed meant some level of tracking was still going on past that point. It was in the village's best interest to accurately gauge what its ninja could do. I'd figure it all out at some point.
The long walk gave me plenty of time to imagine ninja performance reviews. A burning need to ask a question pulled me out of the fantasy before long. "What about the scroll from Biwako-sama?"
He grunted, annoyed that I remembered it and even more annoyed that I brought it up. He did nothing more to acknowledge it until we reached the first floor. Then he paused, debating between giving it to me or the pleasure of stealing from a child. His eyes met mine for a moment before directing a sigh at me along with the scroll.
"Don't attempt either of these until you can successfully do all the exercises with two leaves at once," he said while pushing open the door to the first floor. I tried to ask another question, but the sudden bright light blinded me. He was already gone in the second it took me to adjust.
The two weeks since then had been mostly productive. The academy had been better than usual with the graduation exam right around the corner. We spent our days doing independent study and sparring. I went on a good streak of racking up wins against the other kids in class.
My favorite win was a 1v2 against the Akimichi kid and a taijutsu-focused Nara of all things. I even almost beat Hide until a vicious kick brought me down. I'd give him the seal of reconciliation, but it would be a cold day in hell before I let him help me up.
Things were good outside of class too. The three of us focused on graduation when we could get together. Kurenai was training with her dad more often and couldn't stay with us after school for long. It ended up working out well for Shizune. She could focus more on physical training from me. And medical scrolls from Biwako. She was getting run ragged, but seemed happy about it. I had the pleasure of escorting her to the Sarutobi compound each weekend because of the bundle of nerves she turned into when getting ready to study under the older woman.
Eventually, I'd beat enough self-confidence into her that she wouldn't need a crutch. Until then, I was willing to bask in the glow of teasing a nervous friend. We still split up at the compound gates. My own nerves kept me from going in since the first time.
I was overjoyed when I first opened the scroll and got to reading. It contained the instructions to a D-rank wind and water ninjutsu. I was so excited that I couldn't sleep at all that day. My night was spent in the backyard molding chakra and collecting leaves. The excellent mood had kept up for most of that week until the premonition hit me.
How the hell did she know what my chakra affinities would be? It would be one thing if she knew my mother or father's and made an educated guess. Possible if unlikely. Guessing that I would have a dual affinity and getting both of them right wasn't realistic. The solution was as apparent as it was harrowing.She already knew.
How and why I didn't know. But it haunted me whenever I let myself think about it. Fear gripped me tighter than I'd felt before in either life. Was it a veiled threat? A warning?
The lack of communication from her had me pulling out my hair in frustration. Then there was the Sensei angle to think about. Was he in on her scheme? Was taking me down there and using the chakra paper a piece of the puzzle or what he did for everyone he taught.
There wasn't anyone I could trust to confide in. Worst of all, I didn't know if this was something even to be distrustful of. As the Hokage's wife, she had more access to files than almost anyone in the village. Not to mention that she was an elite medical ninja with the chakra control that came along with it.
She could have easily scanned me without my knowing. It was also possible that she was an elite sensor and figured it out that way. I just didn't know the answer. No amount of theorizing brought me closer to the truth.
So instead, I resolved to act like nothing was wrong. I was too weak to move against her or exert my non-existent influence. But that weakness protected me from much of the danger your average jonin would have faced under the same scrutiny. As much as it hurt to admit, I wasn't even the best kid in my class. I'm not important enough to be in danger from whatever ploy I was in the middle of.
Danzo was a potential thread that I was hoping was unconnected. I doubted it because of Biwako's involvement. Admittedly, it would be hilarious if Hiruzen's wife was working with his most significant threat.
The fact that this hasn't even been the greatest source of stress I have been dealing with in the last two weeks probably says something about me. I was reasonably confident I wasn't crazy. Being a ninja is all about compartmentalization right? So from that perspective, it's normal for me to shove the things I can't control deep down and only worry about what I can… Right?
I'm moving on before I think deeply about this again.
Leaves are a pain in the ass. Those stupid plant runoffs refuse to cooperate with me. I was ready to commit sacrilege and start chopping down Hashirama trees in frustration. They don't want to be cut in half in the mornings, and they are determined to get wet before I can cover the whole thing in water during the evenings.
The chakra control I'd painstakingly built up was finally starting to fail me. My internal control was excellent and I've gotten even better at dispelling genjutsu from all my practice in converting chakra into different affinities. Things only started getting difficult when I tried to use it externally.
It's like going from drawing stick figures to trying to herd cattle on a ranch. Theoretically doable, it just requires a very different set of skills to pull off.
Shizune was helpful for tips, but she had little more to teach me. She had excellent chakra control for a genin level kunoichi. It wasn't nearly enough when I was trying to develop jonin level skills. I couldn't use her knowledge as a cheat code even if she were at that level. It would be detrimental for her to watch over my chakra control training instead of working on furthering herself.
It wasn't like I was hopeless. I was confident that I could figure it out on my own eventually. Doing so just meant wasting months, if not years on the basics. I needed to get someone willing to train me in chakra control and skilled enough to make a difference. Biwako and Sensei were out of the running for paranoid reasons. Luckily, I had another person in mind that could kill two birds with one stone.
Just because I told Biwako, and thus the Hokage, that I wasn't interested in medical training didn't make it accurate. Being able to heal myself discreetly would be a must for some of my contingencies.
You never knew when a girl might need to perform frontline eye surgery after all.
War had a way of changing people whether they were fighting or not. Years of breaking down men and women into dust. All to leave those who remained to pick up the pieces.
Remainis a good word Arako thought. He remains here trying to salvage what is left behind. The hospital was in a constant miasma that choked the life out of those who entered. To him, the medical corps had turned into a hollow shell of its past. The sharp upward trajectory established by the first two hokages was already blunted by the destruction of Uzushiogakure. The Second Shinobi War had been the final nail in its coffin.
Tsunade had given him hope that they'd reached even greater heights regardless, but she had burned out before her star had truly shined. Her once constant presence had turned into smoke, only appearing during the direst of emergencies.
Arako hated it. And he hated himself more for doing nothing about it. A few years ago and he would have dragged the woman up here and screwed her head on right or screwed it off. The woman was a Sannin for goodness sake! Did she not realize what it meant for them that a med-nin was a hero of the village?
Even now, the woman's shadow was enough to inspire hope. The medical corps had to hire genin to go through paperwork just for all the people who had applied for them after she faced down Hanzo. Ninjas and civilians alike had flocked to one of the most difficult postings in the village. Years later and they still had more applicants than they knew what to do with. Even if the numbers were slowing down to something more reasonable.
He couldn't bring himself to care about the mass of people who had come after him. The next generation who worked in the hospital would never realize how far they'd fallen. The lives that could have been saved if she had kept pushing the boundaries of what medicine could do and pushing the Hokage to make reforms would be enough to remake the village twice over. Now it was naught but ash in a bitter half-forgotten dream.
The hope that once remained in Arako's chest had fallen out into a sharp ache. Now it was another regret added to the innumerable list. Not that it mattered in the end. The last year had brought a sense of finality to his life that couldn't be shaken.
There wasn't some great tragedy weighing him down or guilt nipping at his heels. He had learned to sleep peacefully at night. You had to learn eventually with the horrors he watched crawl into the hospital and never crawled out. It would be an insult to everyone shinobi in Konoha if that were all it took to phase him. He hadn't even dealt with the worst of the Second Shinobi War! He had been on mandatory rest when the wave of victims had come in from the green burnings in Amekagure.
No. Arako had simply woken up on a cold morning more tired than the ones before it and hadn't found proper rest since. He didn't fight the new reality at first. Exhaustion was one of the few friends that lived with him through the years. The Yamanaka he spoke with didn't think the new affliction was odd either. They encouraged him to lighten the load and build himself up to his previous strength or retire altogether.
Retiring was never an option. Taking a slight step back was. That step turned into two, then three, and now it seemed he was more decoration than doctor. None of it had helped bring him back to form. The tiredness in his bones was more of a habit than smoking by now. Arako wouldn't know what to do with himself if he turned things around at this point.
Why am I here?He thought, looking down at his hands. Memories bubbled up as he curved and curled them around. The strongest flash was his genin teammate crying in his arms. She'd drank enough one day to have him under the table before the sun had set. By the night's end, he was the only one sober enough to drag the both of them home.
Even then, he hadn't realized how desperate things were. Sensei had taught them never to let any of the darkness they saw escape into the light all those years ago. She had learned the lesson far better than he could've expected. The dam didn't break until she tried washing her hands. A cry rang out before muffled tears hid it. She wasn't the only person who couldn't wash the blood off their hands on dark enough nights. She was the only one he cared enough to for him to worry about it.
Arako hadn't seen the same horrors she had. He had spent most of his life putting men back together instead of pulling them apart.
A voice called his name from the hallway, and a voice that sounded like his own answered. He watched from the back of his mind in a daze as his body moved through the motions. Habit had kept him alive, and habit had kept him from failing as a doctor. The haze didn't leave until a ghost filtered in through the crack in the door.
A cute little specter had materialized in his office. Tall for her age when he'd last seen her and tall for her age had she remained. Odd, he thought, ghosts weren't meant to grow older, even if it was only into a child rather than the toddler he recalled.
"Been a while since I came by doctor-san. Are you saying you forgot about me already?"
The smile and cheerful tone stood at odds with the sad-sounding words. But Ikeda Rinko had always balanced dichotomy better than most. A cycle of emotions washed through him as the girl made herself home in his office. The shame at letting her abuse continue, pride at how strong the girl had looked after the initial grim diagnosis, and relief. She had stopped coming without warning nearly two years ago. He thought her dead and buried with no one left to care.
The feeling overwhelmed him so much that the words he wanted to say years ago boiled over before he could stop them. "Are you happy Rinko?"
He might as well of struck her for how shocked the reaction was. The girl who had been spinning circles in his chair nearly fell out of it as she floundered. The voice that followed was sweet enough to make up for it. "I never really thought about before doctor-san… But I think I am."
A nod was all Arako gave to answer. His wandering mind and a few steps brought him to the window and a lighter heart gazed out into the village. Another few steps joined him after a moment, and with them came a comfortable silence.
Konoha was indeed a beautiful place. Night or day, his home held a graceful strength that the gods could envy. A place where old men could still find some use and little girls could rise above their tormentors. Minutes had passed before either spoke, but neither seemed to mind.
"What can I do for you Rinko-chan?"
"I was hoping you could help me with something. If you don't mind keeping a secret that is."
"That depends… Is keeping the secret going to get you hurt?"
"Nothing like that doc. I want to learn to be a med-nin… I just don't want anyone to know about it. You know?"
"I understand," he said without understanding. "When would you like to start?"
"I know it's a lot to ask—wait you will?"
Arako just smiled at her and pointed to a beginner's medical textbook sitting on the shelf behind his desk. He had lied for her over something much worse than this for years. At least this time, he could do some good in the world and keep track of the precocious girl.
He spent a fair amount of time with her that evening. Arako was curious about who her previous teacher was. She flew through most of the biological aspects of healing fast enough to show she was trained or extremely well-studied. The only aspects of the human body she had poor knowledge of were its interactions with chakra.
Perhaps her mother taught her because of her condition. He doubted it. There was little to indicate her mother was trained as a med-nin. Though Ikeda Akiime's file was redacted enough to look more like a fill-in-the-blank novel rather than any sort of detailed history.
He wasn't about to ask any prying questions. Old shinobi were experts at keeping their noses clean.
AN:
Work has ended my wish of a chapter a week pretty handily. The goal now is to keep it at 2 chapters a month and try to squeeze more out whenever I can.
This story isn't in any danger of being abandoned if any of you were worried about it. I've got several scenes planned out and a burning desire to get to them.
The past few chapters have given me a deeper sympathy for people who get stuck in the academy and never make it out. There's just so much you can do here and it's so easy to get characters involved. I've taken to listing down my goals for each chapter to make sure I'm moving in the right direction.
A big goal of mine is to set up the seeds for Rinko to get stronger in the future. I'll let you know right now that ninja won't be as overpowered in this story. Some people will get nerfs, some people will die, and life will go on.
As of now, I estimate 2-3 chapters left in the academy and then onward to Rinko's ninja career.
I'd really like to thank everyone who has been reviewing the story so far. It means a lot to me and I love going back and looking at them. It is honestly embarrassing how many times I've been having a rough day at work only to be cheered up by looking at what you've all said.
Thank you for reading and I look forward to giving you the next chapter.
Update: Wording fixed