Chapter 7
"how are you feeling Saeko-chan ? Are you nervous ?" Yoshino asks while combing her hair
This is the day. Saeko will officialy train to be a ninja of Konoha. Her birthday was a few days ago, she is four and old enough to enter the Academy.
She won't lie, she's a bit nervous. Even if Shikaku and Yoshino told her what to expect, she can't help it. After all, in a few years if she is good enough, she'll be a Genin and join the war.
"I am. Do you think I'm good enough ?"
"you are" Shikaku says. He's leaning on the wall next to them in the living room "You are better than most Genin. Don't worry, you'll be fine"
"I am ?"
"yes, you are a prodigy" he says bluntly "I wasn't able to do half the things you do when I was your age"
A few minutes later, she says bye to Yoshino and follows Shikaku outside. He's dropping her off on his way to the Hokage tower "alright, do you want me to come with you ?"
"no" she shakes her head "I'm good"
"you sure ?"
"yes"
"if you say so" he studies her carefully before nodding "I'll see you later then"
"see you later Shikaku-oji"
"today, all of you take a step closer to the Will of Fire !" the Hokage begins his speech "You are the future of Konoha. You will be the one protecting our home once you graduate. I know you will do everything in your power to suceed, to protect your loved ones, your neighbours, your friends, the village... I stand in front of you today to wish you good luck. The Will of Fire burns strongly in each one of you" the Hokage smiles at the children then he disapears in a Shunshin, leaving leafs as the only proof of his presence.
The teachers are all lined up to call the classrooms. There are 60 children this year, they are divided in three classes with 20 children in each class. Classroom A is mostly composed of clan children and Class B and C are composed of most of the orphans and civilians.
Saeko is in classroom A. She follows her instructors and classmates to a room on the third floor where she sits in the back next to the window. A boy from the Hyuga clan sits next to her, he has long brown hair in a loose ponytail tied a few inches above the end. He wears a mesh shirt underneath a beige kimono blouse, black pants tied to the ankle and black shinobi sandals.
"good morning class. I'm Katsuro Sarutobi. Today, we're going to..."
3 months flies by and Saeko has befriended the Hyuga boy. His name is Neji and he is the nephew of the Clan Head. And like her, he is a prodigy.
This is why after class, sensei Sarutobi asks them to wait before going home.
"sensei ? You wanted to see us ?" Saeko asks politely, standing in front of his desk
"Saeko-chan, Neji-kun" he greets them "Yes, take a seat. I have a proposition for you. You two are well above the rest of the class and you already know what I'm teaching you. So you have a few options, if you want to hear them ?"
"please sensei" Neji nods politely
"alright. First, you stay in this class and follow the 6 years course. Second, you stay until the end of the year then you skip the next five grades and enter sixth grade and graduate. Third, you graduate in December. And fourth, you choose a year and then follow the rest of the course until graduation. You have until monday to decide alright ? You can go"
Too shocked to say anything, the children listen and leave. The walk in silence for a while.
"I don't know what to do" Neji confides
"mmh... I'm not sure either. On one hand, we are bored. On the other, it's our first year"
"yeah... What do you think ?"
"I'm not staying in first grade"
"obviously" Neji rolls his eyes "I mean what do you think of the other options ? Do you want to graduate in December ?"
"no" she says without hesitation "I won't take the exam. I'm four, what will a four years old do on the field ? Okay, I'm a sensor but it doesn't change anything, you know ? I'll be killed as soon as I put a foot there"
"yes, I won't do it either. I'm five but you're taller than me. If you are going to be killed, I'll be too. Maybe we can enter fifth year ? So next year we enter sixth year and when graduate I'll be almost 7 and you'll be almost 6"
"it's not a bad idea" she agrees "This way, we can train more and learn about protocols, formations and all the important stuffs we don't already know and we will be older"
"so, are we doing that ?"
"I think" she nods "But we have to inform our guardians"
"uncle will probably say yes. The elders will be more than okay with it, it will look good to have someone graduate that early"
"Shikaku-oji will be okay with it, Yoshino-oba... I'm not sure but she'll respect my decision I think"
"alright. I'll see you Monday Sae"
"see you Nej" she waves
"I'm home" she calls, taking off her sandals
"welcome home Saeko-chan" Yoshino appears in the hallway. Saeko follows her to the garden "how was school ?"
"it was okay. Is Shikaku-oji coming home today ?" she sits on the floorboard and accepts the cup of tea handed to her
"yes, he is eating dinner with us. Why ?"
"I have something to tell you and Shikaku-oji"
"is it important ?" Yoshino asks after swallowing her mouthfull of tea
"it is"
"alright. You have a 30 minutes break before I teach you more Iryo ninjutsu"
"so Saeko-chan" Shikaku says during dinner "Yoshino told me you had something to tell us ?"
"yes" Seako puts her chopsticks down "Sarutobi-sensei asked me to stay after class today. He admitted that he couldn't teach me anything because I already know everything he teaches so he told me I could graduate early and I have until Monday to decide"
"already ? But you're only four !"
"I know Yoshino-oba. I am not the only one sensei asked to stay, my friend Hyuga Neji was told the same thing. We already decided to enter fifth grade starting Monday so next year we'll join sixth grade then we'll graduate. Like that, we have more time to train and learn things we don't already know and we'll be older"
"but still..." Yoshino protests weakly
"Neji will be with me, I'm sure we won't be separated after graduation"
"I see your decision is already made" Shikaku raises an eyebrow "I imagine your simply telling us so we aren't surprised, am I right ?"
"you are, ojisan" she nods " Keep in mind why I joined the Academy in the first place obasan. I'm a powerful sensor and I'm needed on the front" she smiles sadly "Every day without me or the others sensors who are also children is another day we are blind to enemy ambushes, I don't want to see the horrors of war but I am needed to prevent them"
Yoshino sighs "I know, Saeko, I'm simply worried"
"I know, I'll try my best to come back"
"that's all I ask"
Saeko feels like it was yesterday she told the Naras about skipping grades but it's been more than a year and now she's standing in front of the Hokage, her Hitai-Ate tied on her forehead.
Neji is standing next to her, his own Hitai-Ate tied on his forehead. She had been invited to the celebration the Hyuga clan organised for his graduation and she had fun but now, reality is setting in and she's more than aware that soon, she'll be on a battlefield.
She's not defenseless, there is a reason why she's one of the youngest Genin to graduate, Yoshino made sure of that and taught her all she knew about Iryo-ninjutsu but she knows that when she comes back home, she won't be the same.
"Nara Saeko, Hyuga Neji, the two of you will form Team Delta" the Hokage laces his fingers together "With your chakra sensing and your byakugan, you are perfect for a recon and sabotage team if needed. Your first assignement is with Team 9 for the border in Grass. Pack for three months, you leave at 7 tomorrow morning at the North gate. Dissmissed"
The genins walk out of the office in a daze, they have been assigned their first mission. They weren't ready to leave, they've only been Genin for three days ! Without looking at each other, they walk to the Nara compound.
They are greeted at the door by Yoshino. She's still unsure about their promotion but she will support them. When she sees their expressions, she knows that whatever they are going to tell her will not please her. She has an idea about what it may be but she'll wait for them to tell her. She guides them to the kitchen and puts the kettle on the stove to make tea. She pours 3 cups then she sits at the table.
"how was your meeting with Hokage-sama ?"
Saeko blinks before reaching for her cup "we've been assigned a mission"
Yoshino hums "alright, when do you have to leave ?"
"tomorrow morning, 7 o'clock"
she purses her lips "how long will you be gone ?"
"we have been told to pack for three months" Neji answers
"three months ? For fresh Genins ? That's rather long" Yoshino frowns
"it's a border assignement" Saeko adds
"as a first mission ? What is the Hokage thinking ?" Yoshino grumbles "Do you need help packing ?"
"yes please, we're not sur what to pack"
"alright, I'll help you pack so Neji will know what to bring" she stands up "Come on kids"
They go to Saeko's bedroom, Yoshino takes her old travel pack when they pass by her room as it's bigger than the standard one Saeko has. She puts it on the bed before turning towards the Genins.
"first when you have to pack for a few weeks, you put your clothes at the bottom of your pack. I suggest 3 or 4 changes of clothes as it´s a long assignement and you are kids so your clothes are small. Unless you have a storage scroll, you need to limit the amount of things you pack" Saeko gives her 3 black pants, 4 long-sleeved black shirts, a mesh shirt, 4 pairs of undies and a dark green sweater "After the clothes, you add your rations, do you need some from the storage ?"
"no, I brought them a few days ago and I put them in a stasis scroll" she goes to her bedside table and takes a scroll
"in that case, you either put them in a pocket of your clothes, one of your pouches or a special pocket in your bag" she points to two in the bag and two outside
"I'll put it in the bag for now, one pocket for food, one for medicine and the last two for spare weapons"
Yoshino nods before showing them how to pack other essentials. She's going slowly on purpose, just to be sure they know how to do it. It takes 30 minutes before she declares them good and let Neji leave to pack his own bag.