Finally (officially) meeting the infamous 'Sasuke-san'
Year-9
She sighed as she thought about how much she had heard of 'Sasuke-san'. Even Minato, who she rarely talked to, spoke of him a lot. Kushina, who said she absolutely needed to know who Kakashi's childhood friend was and dragged her off to Ichiraku once she saw her, talked about him. Kakashi, who she suspected was already his adopted son on everything but paper, spoke about him whenever they met. Obito, who she had to admit was growing on her, praised him so much that her ears nearly fell out. And Rin, who she knew was secretly training in poisons, also highly praised him and even though they talk barely she seems to have no problem talking about 'Sasuke-san'.
The only ones who didn't speak about him were Genma and Raidou, and she intended to keep it that way.
She looked at the headband passed on to her and slightly sighed.
She was going to be 10 in one month and apparently that was enough to let her graduate early as she would be 10 by the time her new teacher comes back to Konoha. One thing was that Genma and Raidou were in a team together, and although she wasn't with them she didn't feel bad. She knew that she would have to see them hurt and kill on the field and she'd rather not be dealing with the aftermaths of it. At least if they came to her for comfort they would probably be coming after they are a bit more calm.
'I guess I don't care much about them. Or perhaps I just don't want to see them hurt.'
She walked back to her library after buying some more shuriken and kunai.
She reached the library in exactly 18 minutes, just like every other day. But this time her parents were waiting for her. More specifically, her mother was waiting for her while her father was searching for something. She didn't spare the adults a glance and set her stuff down at the counter and made herself comfortable on the chair.
"Since you've gotten your headband today and are officially recognized as an adult, you'll be coming with me to my meetings for a while."
This was unexpected. She didn't think her mother was serious about her being a merchant now but she guessed she underestimated her mother. Nodding slowly, she took one look at her father. It seemed that he might have been here for something else.
"Will 1 week of my time be sufficient?"
She knew it wouldn't be enough. But she had known this woman for years now. She knew how she bargained for time.
"2 months."
She paused a bit at that and pretended she was considering the offer.
"1 month."
"Fine. 1 month should be enough."
Annaisha finally had her where she wanted her. Of course, her mother could've seen through it but she still chose to play along. Merchants were always sharp like that. But Annaisha got what she wanted in the end so she wasn't complaining. Even if her new sensei got to Konoha early she would just have to finish the important tasks earlier on.
But she still felt a bit sad. She would barely have enough time to do anything else.
Days passed by and she could understand why her new mother had chosen to work as a merchant.
Sure, she worked with civilians who were considered weak, especially in a shinobi village. But they still had power. Power over decisions made on the routes of trading. Power over Konoha's allies. They even had the power to break and solidify alliances by just choosing to trade in a specific place. And they had money.
And while a ninja could still kill them easily, a ninja would still bow before them to a certain degree just because they had money. Clans, mostly clan elders and clan leaders, had both powerful ninjas and money. And while it was a good thing, and people may envy them for it, but they still had many responsibilities and they never had too much freedom. Merchants and traders had freedom. Since they weren't ninjas, they could move from one nation to another. They could ignite flames for wars and the stronger ones always had the capacity to do so.
Just by doing some of her mother's work with her she felt as though she had power when she felt absolutely powerless when she trained to be a soldier for the village.
Year-10
She had been called to training ground- 37. She guessed her teacher had been the one to do so as she met with her genin team on the way there.
"Hi, my name is Mori Annaisha."
It was a simple introduction. She gave nothing away about herself but she still managed to look like a bright and normal person.
"I'm Uchiha Yasahiro."
He slightly bowed towards her in greeting to which she did the same.
'I guess not all Uchiha are crazy.'
They both looked towards their third teammate who just moved forward and ignored them. Yasahiro frowned a bit before he sighed and took in a deep breath.
They both fell into an easy and pleasant conversation and decided to ignore their third teammate just as he had ignored them. Annaisha particularly didn't care about either of her teammates but since she would be completing missions with them she thought to at least get along with them. After all, they would be in life and death situations together. It would be foolish to make them her enemies.
After reaching the training grounds they came face-to-face to with Orochimaru, the snake sannin. Annaisha paused in her steps and took in a deep breath before she stood before him. She didn't look at him in the eyes, too scared to do so, but she also didn't flinch away in fear.
She guessed her response was acceptable as he only frowned at her two teammates. Although she wasn't entirely sure if that was a frown or just a twitch.
"Tomorrow we start with training. Keep up if you can."
His voice wasn't filled with venom but it wasn't soft either. She couldn't discern many emotions from his face either. He just didn't seem to care much about them.
"We meet here then, sensei?"
Her voice also didn't betray much, but nervousness.
"Yes."
He glanced at the genin one more time before leaving the grounds.
She didn't realize she had been as tense as she was when she felt her shoulders involuntarily drop when the man left. Yasahiro also seemed to have the same reaction as he too massaged his stiff shoulders.
She looked at her third teammate, who she thought was someone from the Kurama clan, who looked a bit scared as his eyes still lingered on the ground.
She didn't want to comfort some strange children she just met so she said her goodbyes to the Uchiha and waved a bit at the unknown boy and went off in the direction of her library.
She let out a sigh, she had been sighing a lot today she noticed, as she looked at the man before her. He was unmistakably an Uchiha. More specifically, he was Uchiha Sasuke. And that in itself meant trouble. She had actively avoided him for almost years now. She had found out when he visited her friends or when he visited the market place and the streets just so that she wouldn't risk running into him. But here he was, standing right outside her library.
He was probably waiting for her.
'F**k.'
"Ca- Can I help you?"
He didn't have any reaction to neither her stuttering nor her question. Even Minato always had some sort of reaction on his face.
"Yes, are you Mori Annaisha?"
His voice seemed much scarier to her than she could ever recall it to be when she watched the anime.
"That was the name given to me at birth, yes."
Sasuke paused a bit at her response before he regained his composure. He didn't think she would speak like that from the way she had asked him that question. He guessed it was just a weird habit. Or perhaps that was normal for children her age, considering how the other children he met with were far from normal.
"I see, Kakashi had me deliver a message for you."
'Oh dear god, why would he do this to me? What did I ever do it him? How the hell could he even get Sasuke to DELIVE A MESSAGE?! What is he, some kind of god?'
Annaisha gulped a bit before inviting him in the library. Even though she wanted him gone, she was not rude to people who were clearly guests and were to be respected. Sasuke nodded in response and followed her in.
"Would you like some water?"
She very much hoped that he would say no and be rude, and leave her the moment he finished relaying the message. But alas, he said yes and acted like a civil person.
"He said that he would not be able to meet up with you for a few days and the books he gathered last time could be taken by you from his house at any time. They are kept at the usual place. He also said that Obito might come to you for a spar since he would be a bit busy with the chunin exams. And there is no need to make a big deal out of it and say it to every single person you see."
"He could've told me that himself and not send you for it."
She was being quite rude, she was aware of it. But she could not spend more time with him as he was not acting like the Sasuke she knew from the show. He was more mature and more calmer than she would've thought of him as.
Sasuke ignored her rudeness and had a look around the library. He didn't seem to find anything he liked, or perhaps he stopped trying to assess if the place held any danger, as he turned to look at her once again. The two were enveloped with a silence. It wasn't comfortable but it wasn't awkward either.
"I heard your jonin sensei is Orochimaru."
"He is. I had just met him today. Apparently he had just come back from a mission."
She didn't have to share the fact that she had just met him that day or the fact that she heard he came back from a mission but she chose to do so. If Sasuke was going to be stubborn and stay here then she would at least be social and not let him get on her nerves just because he existed.
"I see."
She didn't know whether he wanted to have a proper conversation or not. He would not continue the conversation that he started. She wished she had alcohol to help her with this situation. But she couldn't have it even if it was sitting right in front of her as she was just ten years old in this world.
Sighing slightly, she asked if he wanted to have a look around the library.
He nodded and she showed him the different sections of the place. He didn't say much during the whole thing and Annaisha had a feeling he was just observing whether she was a threat or not. She behaved much like how her mother would in official meetings and it seemed to have made him like her. Which wasn't what she was hoping for as she now had another idiot to worry about.