Chapter 16
Minato swung his legs under the stiff wooden bench, his feet not quite touching the floor, and he felt rather miffed about it. He knew that he was young, but both his parents in this life were tall- and he was sort of hoping he was going to be tall as well. At least, taller than he was in the last life. The morning walk here had been foggy and the sky had been grey, which meant it was going to rain all day by some point.
There was only so much he could do while he sat in the lobby of this run-down office. It was the Civilian Shinobi Affairs building, and Minato was rather disappointed by the quality of the decor and upkeep. It was obvious they either did not have a budget or did not care.
His mother told him to sit outside and wait while she had a meeting with one of the civilian guidance councillours, and he had nothing to do besides read the pamphlets on the desk. Which seemed to be a universal experience at a business office.
He had already memorized the pattern of the rug through the space between his sandals in the air, and he could only watch the lady work at the front desk so much before he felt like a weirdo. So he let himself look at the flimsy pieces of paper on the small table to his left.
Oh, there was one about the Academy, which made sense because of what building he was in. Skimming over it, he got some loose details before he decided to actually read it.
The Academy was structured in a way that allowed people to specialize. Minato was not sure if that was how it was done in the manga, but it did make sense to him.
Minto did not know why the idea of a pamphlet put him off, which was mildly absurd to him but also made sense that the Academy would have recruiting papers, and he gazed at the standard text and solid colors of the paper. The Hokage's hat and silhouette were apparent at the top, and the whole paper was full of jargon such as 'Apply your children to be heroes!' was literally written across the second page.
Who was honestly applying out of honor? Maybe the clans or civilians who wanted to gain status.
Despite that dull fact, Minato read the text. Apparently, year ones focused on skills such as reading, writing, and dexterity. Minato wondered how many people signed up their children with even the slightest hint of usable chakra, just for their child to afford the ability to read, too poor to pay the civilian school's tuition?
If there was one thing to be grateful for about his attending the Academy, it was that his parents would no longer have to work themselves to the bone to afford regular schooling.
Minato stopped his wandering thoughts to flip the page and look at the rest of the spread pages. Year two focused on 'tactics and beginning of weaponry!', and the third was for something labeled as 'standardized pre-specialization training'.
Huh, whatever that meant. Maybe it was more general focus areas before students were allowed to specialize and choose electives? It made sense, not all children would have the same knowledge as others, and just hearing what Fugaku was learning about gave him a headache, sometimes.
Year four had elements decorating the sides, and little weapons. It lacked the appeal of some graphics he would have seen in his past life, being simple but not aesthetic.
The information was minimal, which probably meant that they wanted parents or children to know the least about a program as possible.
The next pamphlet is what caught his attention more, the words 'placement test' practically shining like a beacon in the dark. There was a placement test?
Baba-san never said anything about that.
Minato was not sure how he would have to go about it. While Baba-san had been guiding him on how to hide his intelligence, how did he hide that from a group of people trained to spot subterfuge and deceptions?
He was still thinking about it when his mother was done with her meeting. The tall woman had taken one look at the Academy pamphlet and taken one for herself.
"Was the meeting good?" he asked.
Kaasan hummed and picked him up before placing him on her hip. "Yes, you are getting too big for me to pick up."
Minato quickly said, "Oh, do you want me to walk beside you."
Kaasan smiled at him, and despite having a bag on her other arm she brushed his hair off his forehead. "No, let me pick you up for a little while longer, yes? Now let's get home before the rain hits, you saw the sky when we got here."
"Why didn't you tell me about the test?"
Baba-san did not pause in her actions, she did not even twitch a single muscle to show she had heard him. Instead, she poured the tea slowly into her teapot from a larger one.
She meticulously set out empty cups on a lacquered tray, and then she tilted her head towards him to motion towards the cushions, to straighten them out. Who was she inviting over? Baba-san was involved with her clan, but otherwise, she was a hermit.
Across the room, Fugaku was reading, or at least pretending to. His back was perfectly straight, shoulders squared, but his eyes flicked toward the tea preparations every now and then. Watching.
Minato decided to start his question over again, assuming he had done something wrong previously. "There is a placement test."
The woman smoothed her face and finally looked at him. "Is there a reason you are worried about it? Do you think you will not perform well?"
Minato scratched the back of his hands for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to respond.
"Ah, you are worried that they will see too much." Baba-san guessed. "Do you think that highly of yourself?"
No, Minato thought, I am just rather worried they will realize I am a little freak and send me straight to whatever creepy shinobi torture division I am sure exists.
"They are trained to see potential, Minato, they are not all-knowing. Even if they see that you are advanced for your age, you will not be the only one there to be so."
Minato blinked. Huh, he really was going to be taking the test with other clan kids, wasn't he? Little murder kids in training like Fugaku. Who had been holding kunai since they could walk.
"Be slow," Baba-san said suddenly.
Minato looked over at her to see her stand up and smooth her long, dark purple in front of her stomach. The action was more practiced than it was a soothing, natural one.
"If you are worried about how to respond to something, just do it slowly." Baba-san bluntly said, and Minato had the sudden realization that she was right. "You do not know enough to warrant the Academy Committee to ship you off for treason, and you are four, so you barely know anything at all." If Minato did not know any better, he would say that she sounded sarcastic.
"It was a stupid question," Minato mumbled, and he was eventually shooed out of his pouting by Baba-san, who wanted him long gone back to his parent's apartment down the road before her guests arrived.