four.
It was rare, but it did happen. Occasionally they had a student who was advanced enough for extra classes, but most of the time the advancement meant a student struggled in a different topic, so it would even out the stats. Plenty of students were great at theoretical studies and terrible at bukijutsu, or a student was great at taijutsu but flagged in codebreaking. This was not a bad thing, T&I needed quick shinobi who could melt your brain and find messages hidden in a diet plan, they didn’t particularly need to be taijutsu masters. Border patrols needed fast-acting shinobi with reliable taijutsu and ninjutsu arsenals, they didn’t need to know how to hide in a no-name farming town for 2 years without their cover blown.
There were special cases, however, so-called “prodigies” that moved through the classes too quickly. The Niidaime had laid the foundations for the academy but ultimately was too occupied by the first and second wars to make sure seven-year-olds weren’t graduating in a year. The Sandaime finished what Senju Tobirama started and made a mandatory eight years in the academy to graduate as genin. Being the God of Shinobi was a heavy name. It came with all the awe and terror that all shinobi prodigies knew intimately. Every time Hiruzen signed off on allowing extra classes he signed off on someone’s childhood. He had many regrets, the Hatake boy being just one of many. The Uchiha heir whose eyes had already seen too much. The children with kill on sight rankings and bounties high enough to buy an entire marketplace.
But needs must. Sensors were an invaluable tool. The fall of their sister Uzushio had seen the fall of Konoha’s highest quality sensors and sealing masters. If this child had the potential for sensing without the political nightmare of kekei genkais then all the better to expose it now.
Hiruzen exhaled and laid his pipe to the side. He ran a hand over his head, hat long discarded. “You believe that this child might have a talent for chakra sensing?”
Renji nodded. “Yes, Ei is very sensitive to changes in the class’s mood. I’ve noticed she always looks to the door a bit before someone enters, and looks in the direction of people walking past the classroom.” He cleared his throat. “And I admit, the way she flushes chakra through her system can be pretty distracting.” Academy teachers kept track of students based on chakra signatures so one student occasionally disappearing was pretty distracting.
Hiruzen carefully did not sigh. One Anbu had made several complaints in the same fashion recently. He was quite verbal. He allowed himself to lean back in his chair.
“What do you have in mind Renji?”
Renji stepped forward to the desk to show Ei’s files. “Well Hokage-dono, the girl is advanced in her literature studies, she can already read well and has good memorization skills. I don’t think that moving her up a class is necessary though. She displays a good grasp of the skills and lessons learned but she struggles socially. Putting her in a class above would not help her social skills, an extra class or tutor would be perfect for Ei’s situation.”
Hiruzen looks through the behavioral analysis “So not another prodigy then?” He flicks through the documents quickly.
Renji sighed. “To be honest Hokage-dono, I hope not. She catches on to things quickly, but for a child from the Orphanage her social skills are quite bad.”
“You have my permission then Renji-sensei. Wait until the kunoichi classes open halfway through the year to introduce Ei to the extra lessons, hopefully, that will prevent any alienation”
Renji bowed, “Thank you Hokage-dono!”
Hisako clearly had some sort of agenda in entering that child into the academy, whether or not an advanced class would further the agenda was up for debate. Hiruzen waved Renji out and sat down heavily. This is the burden of a Hokage, to wonder if the curious child was a ploy by a retired chunin to climb the political ladder. Naruto would have been eventually separated from the orphanage anyway, as soon as he was old enough to enter the academy Hiruzen would have funded his apartment and living expenses, so really Hisako only moved that timeline forward.
Whatever Hisako had planned for that child, Hiruzen decided to trust in the kindness of a little girl. Minato and Kushina’s child deserved kindness. If the village could not love Naruto, then maybe this one girl would fill that gap.
“Why are you hangin’ out with the bug girl Ei?”
The boy who sat in the row behind Ei had leaned over his desk to whisper loudly. Ei turned around and made eye contact. Her foot tapped the floor once, twi-
“What! Are you embarrassed or something?” Taki leaned forward even more and didn’t bother whispering, delighted by this supposed tidbit. Ei’s eyebrows lifted and she glanced at the girl who sat next to her. Kaho resolutely kept her eyes forward. One. Two-
“Wow! You are embarrassed! Your face is getting all red!” Taki laughed and rocked back into his chair. Ei did not like this boy. She tapped her desk three times in rapid succession and hoped the boy would not interrupt again.
“I’m not embarrassed.” Ei turned her whole body towards the boy. The boy was already turned away and didn’t hear Ei.
“I’m not embarrassed!” She repeated louder after the three-second mark. Kaho had turned towards her and so had other kids.
She stood up to face the boy again, making her chair squeak as it scooted back. His row was higher so even when standing Ei did not match his height sitting.
“I am not embarrassed Taki-kun!” Her face was definitely red now, Ei felt every eye on her and the comfortable haze of an unfocused class had solidified into something gross.
“Whatever you say Ei!” Taki threw his hands into the air, his chair tilted back onto two legs and it wobbled when he laughed. Ei turned quickly and sat back down hard in her chair. Kids that had been staring looked away.
Kaho reached and tapped her shoulder with a pencil. “Thank you.”
Ei did not hug people often, mostly because people did not want to be hugged by her. She hugged Naruto all the time, and he would raise his chubby arms and babble until she picked him up and held him close. She would wrap her arms around Hisako’s legs and Hisako would pat her hair. Other than that, she did not get hugs often.
Aburame did not often hug people, as most people did not want to hug the Aburame. Kaho got hugs from her parents and some older cousins. The Aburame clan was a noble clan, not as stiff as the Hyuuga, but more reserved than the Uchiha, so they weren’t very physically affectionate.
Children, while cruel, also made friends very quickly. Kaho and Ei would hug at the end of the school day before going their own way. Ei ran off to the orphanage to collect Naruto from the helpers that watched during the day, Kaho would go to whichever parent was there to pick her up.
Kaho would babble in the polite way of the Aburame to her parents about the wonderful friend that loved her kikaichu and thought her handwriting was pretty. “She said my kaichu were pretty!” The girl skipped so happily that her glasses went askew, and her father smiled down at his daughter and swung their joined hands. Kaho’s parents were very happy that their little girl was spared from the disgust usually shown to their clan, and very pleased Kaho found a friend that respected the kikaichu.
Ei spoke to the boy she carried on her back about the nice girl who waited for her to speak and told him that this shinobi business might not be so bad. “Kaho-kun said we were friends Naruto-chan!” She whispered this like saying it louder would make it untrue.
“She had bugs in her hands Naruto-chan.” She emphasized with splayed hands as she walked back to her apartment complex, her small closed-toed sandals making little puffs of dust rise.
Naruto babbled back appreciatively.
“That’s so cool,” Ei whispered.
Children filed out the door when the bell rang. Ei set her used but still shiny pencils in their matching plastic case and slid her notebook in her bag. When she turned to say her customary goodbyes to Kaho, Renji-sensei stepped into her view. He crouched down to her level, which was quite a lot for such a big man. “Please stay after class Ei-kun. There is someone here to meet you.” He had his usual smile and assured Ei she was not in trouble. Ei gripped the straps of her bag and tapped her fingers along the stiff fabric. Renji-sensei waited for his student to speak, he was used to the mannerisms of his class now.
“I have to pick up my brother. I can’t wait!” Ei wasn’t sure what to do here, Hisako never said what to do if I couldn’t pick up Naruto! She worried. Kaho had all her things in her bag and waited politely at the end of the row, out of hearing range, to say goodbye.
Ei’s files did not have any mention of family members, it said she lived alone in shinobi housing in the apartment complex nearest to the orphanage. Renji took this in stride, as he was also used to the seemingly random and nonsense things small children said.
“Where are you picking up your otouto from? Does he need to be picked up at a specific time?”
He beckoned Kaho closer with one hand to tell her she could go home, no need to make her Kaa-san wait, while waiting on Ei’s silence. He didn’t mind waiting on Ei to talk, though he did think it was weird that the girl always waited exactly three seconds to reply, it wasn’t especially concerning, but it meant she would get lost in fast-paced conversations.
“I pick Naruto-chan up from orphanage helpers who watch him and take him home with me. Hisako-san never told me a specific time.” Ei waved goodbye to Kaho when she left and really hoped Naruto wouldn’t get sad if she was late.
Renji filed away the name ‘Naruto’ and decided that he could figure out why Ei’s file had no mention of a brother. Belatedly he also realized that six-year-olds were usually the ones being picked up, and a six-year-old girl picking up a sibling was abnormal.
“What if I sent a message to the helpers to tell them you will be a little late? Remember what we learned yesterday about the message system used by shinobi in the village?”
Ei nodded, this seemed acceptable to her. She also kinda wanted to see the postal Hawk again. She glanced at the new color at the corner of her eye, then turned fully when the muted red entered the door frame. A young woman with reddish brown hair and a flack jacket entered.
“This is the woman who wanted to talk to you, Ei-kun.” He gestured toward the lady who waved. He motioned for Ei to sit back down so she slipped her bag off and took her seat again.
“Hello!” The smiling woman had cherry red lips and a kimono-style top, a flash of metal glinted in her hair when she passed a window. Ei had the feeling she would not see the hawk.
“You were chosen for an extra class and Susuki will be your tutor. I’ll go send your message now, I’ll see you in class tomorrow Ei-kun!” and with that, Renji walked out the door. The mist-like vapor that was Renji faded away and she was left alone with the woman. Extra classes??
The woman hadn’t turned to watch him leave and had sat on the desk looking down at Ei the whole time.
“How does it feel today?”
Ei paused, not to reply but to puzzle over the vague question. Her sandaled foot tapped the wooden floor seven times before she replied with a hesitant, “Hot?” Why was this lady asking about the weather? Hisako had raised her to be polite, but seeing as she was only six, her confusion was clearly evident on her face.
“You had three classmates missing today right? It must have felt different today without those three.” The woman probed.
Ei was definitely lost here. She stared up at the lady. Susuki-san stared back. “You were never told what class this was, were you.” She deadpanned.
Ei shook her head.
Susuki sighed and looked decidedly regretful. Susuki Mika hated weird shinobi, and she would always deny being one herself.
“Alright, let’s start fresh here. My name is Susuki Mika, you may call me Susuki or Susuki-san.” Her face pinched, “I’m too young for sensei.”
She showed Ei her hand, palm up. Ei saw a layer of glow settle on top of Susuki-san’s palm but didn’t say anything.
Ei had been told before that what she saw was not real. She had been told by many children and helpers and various adults that the colors in her vision were fake, make-believe, lies, afterimages, and imaginary friends. Hisako said she believed that Ei saw things, and told her to stop asking people why they were blue.
Ei looked at the hand, and looked at the woman. Her confusion was only growing.
Susuki-san delicately plucked Ei’s hand from under the desk and placed Ei’s palm on hers. The glow reached to cover Ei’s hand as well, making her green swirl and bounce. “This is chakra. I’ll be teaching you how to use this, and how to see that other world.”
Ei’s hand twitched and her head shot up to look at Susuki-san. Susuki met her gaze evenly. She didn’t look like she was lying. Ei decided to trust the woman.
“Chakra?”
“This was supposed to be taught during your second year, but because you are so affected by it, your sensei thought you should get the basics sooner. Chakra is a life force, everyone has chakra, but everyone has a different feel to them. Shinobi use their chakra to do all those cool jutsu, so their chakra is more developed and firm.” The glow on Susuki-san’s hand retreated but the warmth lingered. Ei pulled her hand back into her lap and thought about that.
People did have a different feel. Ei didn’t make it up. Susuki Mika saw the gleam in the child's eye and resigned herself to her new position as a babysitter. “When I see people’s chakra, it's like a flavor to me, each person has a unique flavor. Konoha village has this green-herby hint that I don’t feel in any other village, which comes from those Living Hashirama trees all around the village.”
Ei’s eye definitely sparkled now, because she knew what Susuki-san was talking about. Chakra! That’s what it's called! That’s why the class is loud and colorful and why the woods are all the same and why Naruto was orange and why Taki was blue! She tapped her fingers on the desk and it probably wasn’t three seconds but!
“You are yellow!” Ei blurted.
Susuki-san blinked. “I am?”
One! Two! Three! “Yes! You are warm and yellow! Renji-sensei is gray and sounds like rocks!”
“You see chakra as colors?” Susuki was fire-natured so the warm part made sense, Renji was earth natured so that made sense. Seems like she wouldn’t have to worry about teaching Ei how to focus on chakra nature. “When you say that your sensei sounds like rocks, what do you mean by that?” Susuki stepped around the desk to sit in one of the tiny chairs, which made her legs fold up against her chest.
Ei kicked her feet into the air and drummed her fingers on the desk, “Gravel.”
Susuki personally thought Renji was like chestnuts. “Can you explain what you mean by that?” She repeated. “When you say it sounds like gravel, do you hear gravel shuffling or does it sound rough to you?” She decided the technical speak could wait for later and instead focused on the feeling part.
“Um, it's like gravel on your feet. The feel when you slide on gravel with shoes on.” Ei swiped her hands on the desk to demonstrate.
Susuki considered how to go about this, “When I passed by Renji, I got the flavor of chestnuts, I don’t really taste it per se, but the sensation of chestnuts. Chestnuts have a crunchy nutty, earthy flavor, you say that Renji is rocky right? We both feel a similar sensation.” She might just figure this teaching thing out. “Can you guess why we would think of earthy things when we sense Renji?”
Ei shook her head. It was real! It was all real, it wasn’t just her making things up or being weird, because someone else felt it and knew what she was talking about and it was amazing!
Susuki answered her own question, “It's because chakra has a nature, a person’s unique chakra signature has a nature that it wants to follow. Renji is a doton-user, his chakra is very earthy, so he can use earth jutsu, and he is a very sturdy person.” She would explain the complicated ying and yang balances later. “There are 5 chakra natures, Doton, Suiton, Katon, Futon, Raiton, and everyone has one or more of these natures.”
Ei thought back to the changes that happened every night to Naruto’s orange. Tap-tap-tap,
“If someone feels like moss, does that mean they are water and dirt?”
Susuki did not know how to feel about doton being called dirt so she ignored it.
“Maybe.”
The first lesson Ei had was short and enlightening. The second lesson was done a week later on a Saturday on the academy grounds. Susuki-san talked about why civilians felt different, why older people felt like that, and the differences in male and female networks, and they compared the sensations they got from certain things. During the third lesson, Susuki-san said that the sensei of class eight was a fire-natured shinobi because she smelled “burnt”. Ei argued that she was part Katon and part Suiton because she was “kinda purple” and the chakra “swirled” instead of “flickered”. Once the two gave up arguing and they cornered her in the teacher’s lounge together, the woman in question said she was fire natured. Ei had squinted at the woman and bluntly asked her if she was pregnant.
The embarrassed kunoichi was indeed pregnant and said she was only 4 months in, and she was waiting until her flak jacket wouldn’t fit to go on maternity leave.
Susuki and Ei promised not to out the sensei before she said anything to her class, and Susuki ignored the fact that she didn’t notice the woman’s chakra network starting to swirl around the womb. That prompted a discussion on why women could filter the nature of their chakra out more easily than men. Reason being, their bodies were built to accommodate for a baby, so the automatic conversion of chakra into pure chakra to grow a baby was why the kunoichi’s chakra signature had felt differently. There was also a side note on why Ei should not ask or tell people if they are pregnant.
Ei had taken this new information in stride, this was only given a name and an explanation to what she had always seen. When she told Kaho about her lessons and how chakra was so cool, Kaho had said she knew what chakra was already. And that most clan kids knew what chakra was. Kaho had said that with the air of one who had just been asked what color the sky is.
Ei had been mildly annoyed with that.
Because if Ei had known that chakra was real already then she would have realized that there were people following her. She had been quietly terrified about this for a week and had not told anyone in fear of becoming one of the orphanage's ghost stories.
Ei usually told Hisako about her day at school and her chakra lessons when she picked up Naruto. She had hesitated in giving her full day’s story today.
Hisako had noticed this and prompted Ei to ask her a question.
“Um. There are people following me.” Ei scratched her ankle with the edge of one shoe. Naruto was still in her arms but had fallen asleep.
Hisako had long been trained out of immediate reactions, if she showed an expression it was because that is what she wanted you to see. A life of anbu and then child rearing had made it so she was surprised by little. The fact that Hisako had stared blankly before moving her face into an appropriate expression of concern gave away the fact that she was fazed at all. Looks like Ei has noticed the Anbu guard around the container finally.
“How do you know that?” Hisako did not doubt this, but she did need to decide whether to escort Ei home or not. This was a pleasant outcome, Hisako had hoped Ei would see the guards.
Ei adjusted her hold on a sleeping Naruto, “Naruto is orange. They are blue.” She pointed in a vague direction behind her. Hisako assumed that this is where the Anbu guard was stationed. Ei’s eyes had gained a sheen to them and her throat felt like it was closing up. Hisako gently squeezed one of Ei’s shoulders and that did it. Great big tears rolled down her face which woke Naruto, who cried because his nee-chan was crying.
“I- I thought it was Naruto!” Ei burst out, she didn’t wait for a reply and everything spilled out with all the frustration and fear that had been slowly bottling up. “He’s all bright an’- and orange, and his chakra is so- l-loud and it moves so much!” Her speech slurred and she hiccuped loudly, “Or thought it was th- the people living below us, but- but they!” Ei’s hold on Naruto had tightened, and Hisako placed a calm hand on Ei’s to take him.
She patted his back to calm him while pulling Ei in an embrace with her other hand. When Naruto had mostly calmed and gone back to sleep, Ei still hiccuped but calmed a little. Hisako would have cheated with a calming genjutsu like she did with her other charges, but she didn’t want a shinobi breathing down her neck for casting genjutsu on the container. “How many people do you see following you?”
Ei took a very big breath in and out. “T-two, there are two shinobi and they switch places following me with two other shinobi every night.”
Hisako hummed in the back of her throat and took big breaths for Ei to mimic. “Can you sense them near when you go to school Ei?”
“No? They um- They are here now, but they weren’t when I went to school.” Ei glanced away to something behind her.
Hisako would have to talk to the Hokage again. Joy. She really hoped this didn’t get her fired. How much of an S-class secret could she reveal?
“You don’t need to worry about those shinobi Ei-chan. Sometimes, the Hokage tells his shinobi to guard certain people. Those shinobi aren’t following you to hurt you, but to protect you and Uzumaki-kun.” Good. That should satisfy Ei and put aside her worries without breaking the law.
Ei felt the two blue people get closer, but they were dimmer now. They were definitely shinobi with how condensed their chakra was. The Sandaime dropped off Naruto at the orphanage personally. Naruto was Orange. Distant memories of yellow came to the front of her mind.
“Are they guarding Naruto-chan because he is Minato’s baby?”
Hisako no longer hoped to keep her job. Hisako now hoped that she still had her life after this. It would be a mission failure if she lost her job and then had to create a new cover but dying while in civilian deep cover was just embarrassing. How. How did a child figure that out. She wanted Ei to notice the anbu detail but there was no way Hisako could have predicted this. It was an S-class open secret and she was going to die. Ei was a talented sensor. Ei also followed her every word as law. This was fine. Children say all kinds of funny things.
“It's a secret, so we shouldn’t tell others. But yes.” Ei nodded and accepted this casually like Hisako didn’t just sign her own death warrant.
“How do you know that Ei?.”
“Well Minato was yellow, and his girlfriend was big and red.” Ei was calm now, though she felt a little stuffy. Makes sense that Lord Fouth’s and the Uzumaki princess’s baby had some protectors. She thought. That even explained the shinobi who stopped the mean helper before.
Hisako didn’t even have time to warn her contacts that she was going to be quietly taken out back and have her neck snapped. She kept a calm expression and kept a tight leash on her pulse and chakra so as to not alert the child who figured out an S-class secret through basic color mixing. Hisako passed the container back to Ei who slipped him into her sling.
“Do you have all your things gathered Ei-chan? I can walk you back to the apartment complex if you’d like.” Hisako smiled kindly and forced her heart to beat at a normal pace. She led to way to the door with a hand on Ei’s shoulder, stopping at the door to the hallway to let Ei reply.
“Mm-mn.” Ei shook her head and gave a small bow “No thank you Hisako-san, we will be safe! Goodbye!” Ei lifted one of the demon container’s hands to wave at Hisako and headed towards the stairwell.
Hisako quickly scrawled a report down. She had a couple of minutes. Shoved it in the crack between the floorboards and the wall under the child-sized dresser. Adjusted her plain gray cotton kimono. Sat in the middle of the room in seiza and waited for her death.