Chapter 5
“Empty your weapons pouch.”Genma and I sat together in the clearing, our legs crossed and our bodies lotus.
We sat speaking for a while about what I needed to work on, a basic warmup and how this would proceed around his busy schedule.
Doing as he instructed I unclipped my pouch and dumped it out in front of me. A dozen kunai, a handful of shuriken, a packet of sebon, and two scrolls. One scroll contained another dozen kunai, some rations, a whetstone and a canteen. The other was filled with clothing, a bed roll, an extra blanket, bandages, my notebook, and a leather pouch of coloured pencils.
He looked it all over with clear scrutiny.
“That bad huh?” I said sarcastically.
He looked up with raised eyebrows, “Unimaginably bad except for that whetstone.”
He picked it up and looked it over before picking up one of my Kunai.
“Do you even know how to use this?” He raised the whetstone.
“No idea. The guy at the shop said I needed it, but I’ve never used it before. I don’t even know what it does.” With a sigh, he set it down.
“Watch.” Almost absently he threw my kunai at the trunk of a tree not 10 feet from us. With a thud, it was stuck in with the pointed part of the blade embedded while the rest was visible. “Now watch this.”
He fished one of his own kunai out of his pouch and copied the exact same motion. The kunai made a sharp thunking sound as it drove into the tree, only the end of the handle still visible.
The difference was astounding, “Wow.”
“Ya, wow.”
He took the canteen, pouring it onto the stone, “Usually you have to let this thing soak for a good 45 minutes, but in a pinch, you don't got that kind of time.”
Picking up a Kunai Genma carefully showed me how to sharpen the weapon, “Start off on the gritty side of the stone and run the blade across it repetitively until it’s sharp and smooth, then flip to the other side of the blade.”
Moving closer I picked up another and copied his movements as best I could, “Like this?”
He adjusted my hands slightly.
“Ya, but with a little smaller angle between the stone and your hand. Don’t be afraid to apply a little pressure, your stuff looks like it was good quality so I doubt it will break.”
Doing as he instructed we worked through all my kunai, “Good, now don't use the finer gritted side all that often, only when you're doing a deep clean. Just do the same thing, but only 5 times on each side, you don't want to have to buy replacements too quickly.”
“Alright,” I nodded.
“Now moving on, what's with the bandages?” He looked them over as if they had personally offended him.
Confused, I asked, “What do you mean?”
He looked at me incredulously, “What do you mean, what do I mean? Do you expect to save someone's life with just this?”
“No, but-”
“Exactly.” He threw the bandages at me, my hand shooting out to catch them. “Pack all your shit back up, I’m taking you shopping.”
We ended up at a large pharmacy in between the civilian market and the shinobi shopping district. The building was mostly underground, but the blinding white lights messed with my head.
The large room that made up the place was immaculately clean, not even a speck of dirt on the shelves as Genma picked up a wooden basket and started walking down the rows of shelves throwing things in every other second.
Feeling like a duckling I followed close behind.
Closer to the back of the room the smell of antiseptic and medicine burned my nose.
Genma paused to pick out the right brand of disinfectant wipes and turned to me, “These are your new best friends.”
I raised an eyebrow questioningly, “Why?”
“We deal in murder kid, blood gets everywhere and it's not always clean,” Understanding dawned on my mind as we moved toward the back counter. “People get all kinds of weird diseases, and you never know what can be transmitted through blood. One open wound comes into contact with another and you get yourself a disease you’re gonna have to stay in the hospital for.”
Gagging slightly my mind flashes back to the brief presentation a medic-nin gave the class in 5th year. Running back I picked up another set from the shelf before throwing it into the cart.
“Don’t look so disgusted, medical chakra is a wonder. They can remove most of that stuff with some potent antibiotics and a little time and chakra.”
“Is there a way to prevent getting that kind of thing in the first place?” A thoughtful look crossed his face before he nodded.
“Ya, just give me a second.” Hitting the bell the painful sound echoed through the empty store.
In seconds a chubby man in a white lab coat came rolling in from the back room.
“Hey Akako, I need a few things for my young friend here.”
The man looked me over with critical eyes, “She’s a pretty thing isn’t she?”
Genma snapped in front of the glasses wearing the man's face.
“She’s too good for you big guy, don’t even think about it,” With a huff, he looked away back to Genma.
“What do you need?” He clicked his pen out and began writing on a stray paper.
Genma leaned forward on the counter to read what the man wrote, “I need a 6 pack of emergency morphine shots, a large med kit, blood poisoning antibiotics, water purifying tablets, and 2 packs of transmission tablets.”
The man looked up at the last one, “Transmission tablets?”
“Ya, the kid is worried about blood-borne diseases while out in the field.” The man nodded.
Using his stubby legs to maneuver the chair around the back he picked out each thing while muttering to himself.
“If you think you’ve ingested or have any foreign DNA or foreign biological matter in your body, just slap one of these onto your chest, skin to seal and channel a little chakra into it. All of the foreign matter will be killed instantly and flushed out of the system within a few days.”
Leaning closer to Genma I whispered, “Is he always like this?”
He looked down and placed his hand on my head reassuringly.
“He’s a little strange, but he’s damn good at his job,” I nodded in assent.
Akako rolled back over to the counter with everything in hand, he placed it all in a discreet black cloth bag before taking the wooden basket off the counter and beginning to ring us up.
Looking over at me once again he apprised me carefully.
“Does the young lady have her prescription for contraceptives and suppressants?” Genma looked over at me with a questioning look.
A small blush grew on my cheeks, “I know what the first one is, but what in the world is the second?” An exasperated look crossed his face as he shook his head.
“Kakashi really is useless. The scumbag.”
Confused, I watched as he turned to Akako, “Thanks man, I’ll bring her down to the hospital to get her prescription all set up right after this.” The chubby man nodded and hummed.
“Good. Your total will be ¥14,500.”
I felt my eyes bug out of my head as the hole in my wallet registered. That's a lot of money, I barely made that in two weeks filled with D ranks. Sadly, I pulled out my wallet and handed him the bills.
Surprisingly he gave me back half of them, “It's your first purchase here, so I’ll let you have 50% off just this once.”
“Thank you Akako-san!” I bowed at a 90-degree angle before grabbing my bag and snatching Genmas sleeve as I speed walked out the door before he could change his mind.
At the hospital, we waited in the non-emergent room after Genma set up an appointment for me.
“What are suppressants?” I asked.
He looked away with a small blush on the tops of his ears.
“Just wait for the doctor, kid.” Nodding, I looked back to the nurses' station.
After about 20 minutes of waiting I was called into a private examination room.
“Hello Ishizaki-chan, my name is Yua and I’ll be your doctor. Now, what brought you in today?”
“Uhh, my-” Mentor? Was Genma my mentor? “Senai? He brought me in to get a prescription for contraceptives and something called suppressants?”
She smiles as she writes away in her notebook, “Alright! I’ll just need to ask you a few questions, then I’ll have a Nurse come in and take all your measurements. After that, you can be on your way. Before we begin, do you have any questions?”
I nodded.
“Just one. What exactly are suppressants?” She smiled as she took her seat.
“Suppressants are a set of seals Kunoichi have placed on their abdomen to suppress the hormones that cause your menstrual cycle. They’ll prevent you from having to deal with lady red while you're on missions.” A deep red blush covered my face.
“Oh…” She smiled.
“There's nothing to be embarrassed about, it's a natural cycle. I’ll get the Nurse to talk you through dosage and how to properly use them when she comes in to take your measurements. Now I’m just going to ask you a few questions and I need you to answer them all honestly.”
I nodded “Alright.”
One set of extremely awkward questions later…
“Alright. It looks like you are all set then.” She got up and tucked the survey into my folder. “A nurse will be right in.”
Once she left I could finally relax. That was mortifying! After a 10-minute wait, familiar pink hair peeked through the door.
“Sakura!” She looked up quickly, a smile on her face.
“Mitsu! What are you doing here?”
I smiled shyly as I looked down, “I’m just getting a prescription for some stuff, my folders on the counter.”
She smiled as she walked inside.
“Well, it looks like I’ll be your nurse today then.”
I smiled slightly. At least it was someone I knew.
“I knew you were working at the hospital, but I thought you were apprenticing under a medic-nin?” She looked up as she beckoned me over to the scale in the corner of the room.
“Ya. A part of our training is rotating through all the different positions in the hospital. I'm on mundane for the next 2 weeks.” Nodding along I stepped on the large scale
I watched carefully as Sakura balanced out the scale before making me get off and put my back to the wall. Marking it off on the sheet she looked over my old stuff.
“Anything interesting in there?” She looked up with a sad smile.
“Nothing I didn't already know about. I’ve missed you, you know. We have to get out soon when our schedules align. Maybe you can come by the house when I’m not working the night shift and we can have a sleepover like old times.”
I smiled, “That sounds fun, how about Monday night next week?” She looked over with a gleam.
“Monday night thriller movies?” I nodded with a chuckle. “Yes!”
She did a little dance before we hugged and she disappeared back through the door.
We had seen very little of one another over the last few months. After Sakura failed the team exam her team was disbanded and she was shuffled into Genin corps before being moved to the medic corps for training.
She’s excelled here, growing leaps and bounds as a person and as a medic. I couldn't be more proud of her.
We’ve both been so busy that we only ever meet up for lunch every couple of weeks or I stop by the house to say hi before I’m off on a mission. It’s been hard without her by my side every step of the way, but that's just how it is now I guess.
We're all growing up.
“Alright, that's enough for today, get home and get some rest.” Sens- Kakashi waved, his eyes closed before he disappeared in a whirl of leaves.
The boys broke apart from their spar and began gathering up their stuff, “Wanna head to Ichiraku,” Naruto called.
I smiled as I stood and bumped my shoulder with my smiling blond teammate. Placing my book on Kiri folklore in my satchel I shook my head.
“Not today Naruto, I have a date with the library.”
He made a face and gagged dramatically causing Sasuke to snicker lightly behind his raised hand.
“Whatever, I’ll see ya tomorrow!” He grabbed Sasuke by the wrist and started running ahead.
Sasuke made an indignant squawk but didn't try to pull away. Smiling at my boys I ran off in the direction of training ground 5.
It was a small lie when I said I was going to the library, in reality, I was headed to training with Genma.
The Tokubetsu refused to let me use any honorifics, something to do with it making him feel old. Telling the boys would only end badly, and Naruto can’t keep a secret if his life depended on it. Kakashi would know within hours.
Arriving I set my bag down by a tree and came to sit in front of Genma. Mentally I prepared myself for the small test that came with each meetup.
When Mitsu sat down the man cracked one eye open to look her over before closing it again. They both took a deep breath before springing back into standing positions across from one another. Genma smirked and shot forward, placing a series of forceful jabs to her torso before giving her a moment to counterattack.
Mitsu kicked out, landing a hit on his shoulder before moving closer to the ground and going for his legs. He landed another jab on her back as she tried to conquer the move he had shown her days before.
She learned quickly and he had learned that she learned best by receiving complete instruction.
Show her how you do it, step by step, give an example, and she can do it too.
Mitsu put all her strength into her arms before kicking up while adding momentum by spinning.
He moved out of the way of the hard-hitting move before grabbing her by her shoulders and placing her in a headlock.
She struggled for a moment before slumping in his hold and tapping out.
“That was better than before, but you're still too rigid. Loosen up your muscles until right before you make contact. It will keep your movement fluid but still provide enough force to do some damage.”
She nodded and plopped herself down to drink some water. While they were sparing Kaji-chan had shown up and was sitting under the tree with his homework on his lap.
“What’s next?”
“We're gonna play a little game of keep away.” Looking up Mitsu watched as he pulled out two different pieces of cloth.
One was bright blue, and the other was a vivid red.
Genma extended his hand with the red cloth loosely held in it and tossed it onto her head. She allowed the fabric to cover her head with a small huff before carefully lifting the edge in front of her face and peering up at him in interest.
Taking it into her hands she sat attentively.
The fabric was strangely soft, with a few tiers and worn spots along the edges from what she could only assume were years of use, “What are the rules?”
He shrugged with a mischievous glint in his eye that Mitsu was beginning to associate with trouble.
“The rules are simple; keep your flag away from me while you try to take my flag and vice versa,” I watched as he loosely tied the blue flag to his pant loop. “You can do whatever you want to protect your flag as long as it’s still on your person, but it can’t be hidden and it can't be damaged when either of us try and retrieve one of the flags. Make sense?”
Nodding, Mitsu tucked the red flag under the leather of her thigh holster. Looking up for confirmation that that was alright, Genma nodded and called out to Kaji who was watching with interest.
“Can you count us down, little man?” He smiled and shot up from his spot.
Standing between you, Kaji raised his hand in the air with an excited smirk, “Ichi, ni, san… run!”
With your brother's eloquent words in mind, you hightailed it into the woods. You’d make a semi-circle and look around so you could head into the village. The market would be packed at this time of day and there was always safety in numbers.
Oh how wrong you were.
Within minutes Genma was on her tail and she ran like hell was on her heels. Fleetingly the thought that that's exactly what was chasing her surfaced, a kunai flying past her face, trimming a few strands of loose hair from her braid.
A fucking demon.
Sweat poured from every pore on her body. The muscles in her legs ached and burned like they’d been set aflame. Having enough she ran straight as a tall thick tree.
Coming within feet of the trunk she jumped directly up, taking her momentum with her. Twisting her body so her feet were facing the branch she applied far too much chakra to the pads of her feet. Upon contact with the branch, she was sent flying head first towards Genma who stood on the trunk of the tree wide-eyed below her speeding figure.
He stood directly in her way and knew it. He shot off the branch forward, but her fingers just tugged the flag on his waist as she passed him. What she wasn't expecting was for his uniform pants to rip down the side.
Landing on the ground both parties jumped away from each other swiftly. Mitsu stood wide-eyed and gaping as she looked from the blue flag in her hand to Genma and back again. The attached black fabric slipped from her hand and onto the ground with a soft rustle. The right side of Genma’s pants was sagging and falling apart, a pair of white kunai boxers glaringly exposed.
Genma stood stock still before a dark look crossed his face and he settled into a fighting stance.
“Wait Genma-” His muscles tensed. “We can talk about this-” His fingers pulled the senbon from his lips carefully and twirled the deadly metal needle between his fingers dangerously. “I didn’t think it would actu-” Killing intent filled the air. “Oh shit.”
Fear kicked in and Mitsu tucked the flag into place beside her own before making a run for it. A scream rolled through the forest, birds taking to the air in flocks.
A white-haired Jonin looked up at the sound as he stood in front of the memorial stone. His eyes sharpened slightly from their usual droop before his sensitive ears focused in on the sound in mild interest. The familiar sound of Genma yelling immediately made him lose interest. He’s probably after Raidou for something again.
In the clearing they had started in, Mitsu hung half dead from a tree, rope wrapping around her ankles in the beginnings of a hogtie. Kaji mournfully flickering around in an attempt to stuff her soul back into her body with minimal success.
Genma sat in the middle of the field criss-cross applesauce and arms crossed with an angry pout adorning his face. The complete absence of the bottoms of his Jonin blues would be a laughable sight if the man wasn't so damn terrifying at the moment. Kunai tighty whities and all.
Both flags were left forgotten on the forest floor, both having been taken by Genma at some point during the chase. Or was it just after they ran through the market and Genma got hit over the head by that old woman for indecency?
Neither party was sure.
Genma handed her a small square of paper, “Push a little chakra into this and it should tell you what your chakra nature is.”
Mitsu watched the square carefully as she focused a few drops of chakra into the paper in her palm. Quickly it became wet, the fibres falling apart in her hand as the water pulled them apart and dissolved before it quickly turned into steam burning her hand and causing her to aggressively flick the water from her hand.
Genma’s eyes lit up,
Oh this was amazing! I can not wait to shove this so far down Kakashi’s throat that he suffocates on it.
“What does that mean? I’ve read about chakra paper but I’ve never read anything about that reaction.”
He placed his hand on her shoulder and shook her a bit, “It’s alright kid, you have water release. The dissolving just means you have a strong affinity for water and a secondary affinity for fire explains the steam at the end there.”
An incredulous look crossed her face as she tilted her hand and watched the clumpy waterfall through the air and disappear between the blades of Veridian grass.
“That’s so cool!”
Genma silently agreed. A hard pat on the shoulder made her stumble forward and Genma waited until she was stabilized to throw her a scroll.
“We're gonna start with something small. I can use water release, but it’s not my natural affinity. We’ll start with theory and work our way up to a basic technique from there.”
She ran her hand along the worn parchment before unrolling it gently. Inside were detailed instructions on how to accomplish the basic nature transformation for water.
Four exercises were listed in the scroll. The first was called ‘Flowing Meditation’.
By far the easiest technique for those looking to begin forming a water affinity is a technique called ‘Flowing meditation’. Find a pre-existing body of water, for beginners it is recommended that you use a small pond or lake. Sit on the surface of the water and circulate your chakra throughout your body imitating the movement and feel of the water around you. Some individuals in coastal nations where water affinities are common take this first step to the next level by purchasing rebreathers. This device allows them to sit on the bottom of the body of water and experience the element while fully submerged in it. The goal of this exercise is to identify the sensation of the water element so your mind, body, and chakra will be able to reproduce it.
After you have completed the ‘Flowing meditation’ stage, you move on to an exercise called ‘Water manipulation’. ‘Water manipulation’ is the simplest of water transformation techniques. The user performs the Dog seal to channel chakra before visualizing a small ball of water floating up from the water below. If this step is difficult for you, you can place your hands in the water and slowly lift them so the water follows your chakra as you remove it from the water. The next step is a little harder; once you have a decent-sized ball of water, try and manipulate it so it forms a shape. Move it from a spear to a square, to a pyramid, to a cylinder fluidly before moving on to the next exercise.
To perform the ‘Water condensation’ technique you will have to move to an area you know has groundwater or water reserves. Use the dog seal to draw the water from around you to form a ball. This is significantly harder to do than the previous technique because you can not just draw the water directly from the source. The premise of this technique is to allow the user to condense all the water vapour in the air to form their techniques while supplementing with water from the plants and aquifers commonly found around the five nations. In situations where there is a limited amount of water in your area, being able to draw it all into one place will be useful.
This final technique is an extremely advanced version of all the techniques above. It is called ‘Water synthesization’ You will use all of the knowledge you received from the previous exercises to manufacture water from chakra alone. You will change your chakra into water by summoning the chakra to your hands and visualizing it turning into water. The water that you produce can be placed in a cup and tested. It will be cold to the touch and pure, without flavour or colour. If the water is off-colour or warm you have removed water from your surroundings and placed it in your cup, not produced chakra water. While it is not necessary for someone with a water affinity to be able to produce their own water, it is an effective and widely sought-after ability.
“I have to feel the water? What is this, magic class, ‘become one with the waves’,” she mocked.
A wry smile spread across Genma’s face as he nodded. Kaji walked over to try and read the scroll, but it was quickly shut so young eyes couldn't see. He pouted as he walked over to Genma.
Genma picked the kid up and plopped down in front of Mitsu dramatically.
“I guess we know what we're doing tomorrow. I’ll grab one of the training grounds by the slow part of the river so you can go swimming,” The tone he used was mocking as he played with Kaji.
Every time his finger went up to touch the kid's nose, Kaji would try and grab it so he'd put it down and try again, “Are we going swimming tomorrow? But I can’t swim so what am I supposed to do?”
A puzzled look crossed Genma’s face as he peered down at the small boy sitting on him.
“How old are you, kid?” The boy looked up and pulled the front of his bandana down to cover his eyes.
“I’m 9, but I’ll be 10 in October!”
“And you don’t know how to swim?” He shook his head.
“Alright, so while your sister gets to turn into a fish, I’ll teach you how to swim, that sounds good?” He picked the kid up, pulling a screech from him as he gave them a raspberry.
Fingers tickling his sides causing the young boy to laugh loudly.
“Everything hurts”, Sasuke groaned as he rolled onto his back.
Naruto and I sat on either side of him, our limbs splayed out and limp in the aftermath of a dog pile. After Kakashi dismissed us we decided to have a team spar.
The boys are leaps and bounds ahead of me, but I’m catching up slowly. It feels good to see some real progress, no thanks to Kakashi, the bastard.
“You're telling me! I think I broke a rib from that stupid back-kick of yours.” A giggle fell from my lips at Naruto's dramatic disposition. “Don’t laugh at me or I’ll come over there to finish the job!”
Covering my mouth sluggishly and turning my head into Sasuke’s shoulder I curled up in an attempt to control my laughter. Naruto had landed an elbow to my stomach and the blooming bruise made it hurt to laugh.
“It hurts!”
My body shook with painful peals of laughter as air escaped my body in exhausted huffs, my eyes glassy from the force of my laughter. The body beside mine shaking in slightly better-contained amusement as well.
A sudden collision of blonde and blue had me on my back. Naruto hovered over me with a mischievous smile on his face. Before I could push him off his bony little fingers were digging into my sides.
Everything shut down and I was left a mumbling, flailing, mess of laughter and jerky limbs as I tried to get away.
Laughter permeated the air, massive smiles on each of our faces as we rolled around in mock anger. Sasuke ended up taking us both out by jumping on us, my place at the bottom of the pile causing all the air to leave my lungs with a wheeze. Aggressive taping to both their bodies didn't give them enough of a clue to get off, so I reached up and grabbed a handful of blue and yellow fabric.
With a jerky pull, I wheezed, “Cant breath!”
They scrambled off me in a hurry. Their worry-filled faces masked with their usual facades once again. In the couple of months that the team had been together, we had become close.
At some point, they had both noticed that something wasn't right. I think it was when I showed up with a black eye a few weeks ago. Both looked worried, but neither said anything directly to me, they just kept a little closer than usual after that. I didn’t mind.
I hadn't told them that anything was wrong at home, but we all knew that the other knew that I knew they knew– if that makes any sense at all.
They seemed to have pieced together that I was staying for a reason, so they hadn’t tried to intervene, but I could see the silent anger and slight accusation every time I had an unexplained injury.
When Kaji ends up with the boys and I they tend to give him a subtle look-over. Thankfully they seem to have realized I take it all so he doesn't have to.
If I’m not with my brother or Genma, I’m with my boys.
We're together every day for missions, training, and just hanging out. We walk each other home, and go grocery shopping with Naruto to fend off stupid civilians, I even let the boys look through some of my journal entries. They are usually the ones about the team and have an abundance of photos and drawings from our time together in them.
When we're together we can all just be us.
Sasuke doesn't need to worry about how anyone will perceive him, Naruto doesn't need to be afraid that someone will randomly attack him out of the blue, and I don't have to hide behind a mask of civilian mannerisms.
We're just us… Team 7 and nothing else.
I think we all prefer it this way.
The river greeted Mitsu upon arrival with a calming trickle and a low hum of constant movement. My muscles ache and spasm with each step I took. The excessive running yesterday and the gruelling belittlement from Kakashi this morning had taken its toll.
The man couldn't seem to wrap his thick head around the idea that I was training outside of our usual team sessions, so he proceeded to interrogate and belittle every action I made, completely disregarding the fact that I was clearly in some form of physical pain.
Shaking the thought from my head I allowed myself to breathe in the calming scent of the river. The humidity of the air was higher than it had been all year, the rainy season at its peak in April. It had rained every night for the last week, light showers sprinkling the leaves during the day. The air smelt of decay and life; the floor covered in leaves that no longer made a sound when you walked through them.
The land of Fire is teaming with life this time of year. Crops are planted and growing steadily, clams are back in season, and the sakura trees are in bloom. It's the season of sakura mochi, fresh vegetables like eggplant and snow peas. The market is filled with fresh herring (Neshin), cuttlefish (Koika), rockfish (mebaru), and Sea Urchin (Uni).
Uni is my absolute favourite seasonal food and it’s the most flavorful in the last week of April. Placing the stacked bento boxes between some roots under a tree I got to work taking off all my gear.
First to come off were my bandages. The once-white cloth splotched with dirt as it unravelled from around my ankle. The mettle snaps of my clothing came apart with a small tug as I pulled my shirt over my head. My shorts came off next to lay in the pile that had started beside my satchel.
Reaching into my bag I pulled out a sealing scroll. Inside were two towels, a change of clothes for Kaji and another pair of shorts for me, the scroll Genma gave me and an old rebreather I’d picked up from Kazan.
Wearing my dark blue swim shorts and top I carefully got into my shallow part of the river. The cool water engulfed my body and soothed the ache of old and new bruises.
Laying my head back the gentle swirls took apart what was left of my braids, my cyan blue strands splaying out around my head like a halo. The way it moved with the water reminded me of the legend of merpeople in Mizui.
A childlike excitement swelled in my chest at the idea of being such a magnificent creature.
Lying back I rose my body to make it float on the slowly moving surface. With the sun beating down and warming my pale skin through the break in the trees the river provided it was easy to allow my mind to wander.
Genma had said something about picking up Kaji from the academy and meeting up here so I wasn’t too worried. Over the, admittedly short, time I’ve known Genma, I’ve concluded that he is a trustworthy and worthwhile friend to have. I don't see him as a teacher, more of a close friend and mentor if that makes any sense.
Dismissing the thought I focused on the water around me. The way it moved, the way it felt, how it clung and dripped from my hands in equal measure. Placing the rebreather in my mouth I breathed out and let myself sink.
A flicker of chakra activated the seals on the device, allowing me to breathe.
Rebreathers are a genius use of Fuinjutsu created in the Second War. The seals act as filters, pulling the oxygen from the surrounding water like a fish's gills. With slow and deliberate breaths you could remain underwater for days, or until your body temperature dropped below 80 and you ran out of chakra.
Opening my eyes, it only stung for a moment as they adjusted to the new environment. Sitting cross-legged on the rock-covered floor I watched as small fish and algae floated past me. The water was slightly murky down here, only about a foot of water above my head. Small particles of debris floated around my head, getting caught in my hair and moving far too close to my eyes for my liking.
Thinking about the debris being blocked I felt a strange sensation as if I was blinking while my eyes were open. Almost like a smooth film covered my eyes to protect them. Startled, I stood up to get my head above water.
Genma and Kaji stood on the river bank, both in swim shorts. Genma was explaining how to swim as he got in, lifting Kaji up from under his arms and holding him in the water.
Walking over I watched silently as Genma instructed my brother and moved with him through the water. I’d just have to ask Genma about the second eyelid thing later. For now, I’m just going to enjoy my day.
Picking up the discarded shirt, a flash of orange caught her attention. Running her fingers over the cloth carefully Mitsu examined the small sown fixture on the center of the left shoulder.
“What’s this?”
The senbon in his mouth clicked almost inaudibly against his teeth as he gazed at the small orange swirl in the center of the cloth, the towel in his hand still rubbing absently at his arms, his hair tied up by some sort of silk cloth.
“It’s the Uzumaki clan swirl.”
Uzumaki? Like Naruto?
“They were an ancient clan that used to be allied with the village long before either of us were alive; they lived on an island called Uzushiogakure, the birthplace of Fuinjutsu.”
“Didn’t Hashirama-sama marry an Uzumaki? Why don’t we hear more about them? What happened to them?”
Pisces of the puzzle slowly started to click together in her mind as she thought it over.
There had been very little on the first Hokage’s spouse in the sections of the library she could access, but if Naruto was somehow related to her, why was he treated so badly?
“They were wiped out by Kiri in the second world war.”
The words made her flinch back slightly as if she’d been smacked. She may not have
grown
up in Kiri, but she wasn't stupid enough to not realize that its culture and blood had shaped her, even if she only lived there until a few months after her 7th birthday.
“I’ll see what I can pull from my collection for you, alright? Stop thinking so loudly.”
With a satisfied nod, she focused back on drying her hair. Bringing the fluffy towel to her hair and rubbing like normal to get out all the excess water.
“What are you doing?!” A hand snatched the towel away quickly.
“Hey, what the hell!”
Genma had a frantic look on his face as he stared at her like she’d just killed his cat.
Shaking his head, he pulled another silk cloth from his bag and walked over.
“Are you crazy? You don’t towel dry your hair, alright. It will make it all frizzy and breakage is a thing you know! Do you want split ends?”
His fingers massaged my scalp through the towel as he worked the water out gently.
“Um, no?” It was more of a question than a response.
What the hell are split ends?
Genma gazed at Mitsu with calculating eyes. He’d spotted the hand-shaped bruise on her shoulder when she’d come up but said nothing.
She was hypervigilant for a Genin who had seen very little real combat, and she had a multitude of small silvery scars on her arms and legs, but those could be from training.
He’d taken a look at her mission reports and physical evaluation sheet after her last two. The injuries did not match the ones reported, but that could just be pride stopping her from marking everything down.
Sage knows he’s guilty of that.
Maybe it was Kakashi being a little too rough during training, but it was unlikely.
He’d listened silently the night before as Kakashi gently boasted about his prized students, even admitting that he hoped to take Sasuke on as an apprentice.
Not once did Mitsu’s name fall from his lips. No one would even know he had a female student if it wasn't for the fact that the boys themselves talked about her to anyone who would listen.
All he’d said about her was that she would drop out eventually, and she was more focused on boys than actually becoming a shinobi, something that Asuma complained about with his little Yamanaka often enough.
Genma had remained silent throughout his friends' intoxicated rambling, his hand slowly tightening around his scotch until it broke, the glass slicing the palm of his hand. After that he’d made a break for it, apologizing for being a little quieter than usual and slipping away to walk back home.
They’d prove him wrong. Kakashi had another thing coming because if he had to, he would take Mitsu on as his student in an official capacity.
His position in ANBU be damned.
He’d bring his suspicions to Ibiki for a second opinion. See what he thought before he acted on anything.
One way or another, Mitsu was going to succeed and prove the world wrong. He’d make sure of it.