Chapter 6
The next day Naruto didn’t pick her up for the Academy. Instead, a young woman with dark hair and light eyes stood outside her door. Based on her muscular physique and leaf headband, she could tell that this woman was a kunoichi.
This must be the woman who had noticed the issue with my previous teacher that the hokage had mentioned she thought.
What really stood out about her was the fact that she had very little Chakra. While most people seemed to have little chakra compared to what Reina was used to, this woman had even less. Reina hadn't even noticed someone was outside her door until they had knocked- and it made her uncomfortable.
The woman seemed to notice that Reina was inspecting her, and she smirked. A fiery glint in her eye told Reina that she was not to be underestimated as a ninja. The look reminded her of the elite trackers from her village, and Reina wouldn't have been surprised if this woman was at least a jounin.
Out of respect, or at least she thought, Reina bowed to the woman in front of her and introduced herself. She had thought that the lesser ninja were supposed to introduce themselves first, so she figured this was the right choice of action.
“Hello, please call me Reina”
The young woman looked at her with her fierce look and turned her head to the side, a slight blush coming to her features.
“OMG my little kōhai is sooooo cute!”
What- Cute?
That was a new one. Reina hadn’t read that the word cute was used here often, so she didn’t know whether to be offended or not. It wasn’t necessarily a positive term to her, and she hardly thought her presence warranted the term cute. Her fellow classmates, especially the kunoichi, fit the term more than her.
“Umm…”
Chuckling at the younger girl’s confused look, the woman took her time to examine Reina.
She was a bit taller than most kids her age, and despite being quite lanky, seemed to have more muscle definition than most of the other children in the academy in her class. The girl was far from actually being cute like the woman’s other students, but the fact that she would get flustered over being called cute was adorable. The embarrassed expression made her look more her age, and seeing the young girl who had been raised completely different from the other children in this town making such a cute expression…. It made the older Kunoichi grin.
The Hokage had given her a full run-down on the child(one she really didn’t need because she probably knew more about the current workings of konoha than the old bastard), and now that she was looking at her- it was obvious that she was a ryuuchi. The intensity in the eyes. . . .
“The name’s Aiko, cutie, follow me please.”
Gesturing for the younger girl to follow her, the older Kunoichi turned to leave. Still slightly surprised, Reina faltered but followed the woman out of her apartment building.
“So, Reina” Aiko called behind her, putting her hands behind her head in a sign of mock calm, “Tell me about yourself.”
Matching the vibe of the woman, Reina slouched a tad in her stance. Aiko could tell that the girl was purposely trying to seem unassuming, like her, but with her massive Chakra presence it was impossible- because of this, she re-routed their path away from the main roads to the back allies.
The Hokage had specifically said to make the least amount of contact with people as possible. Which was stupid because Aiko had brought up reinas issue with him before he had even realized it.
“Um… well, I am new to Konoha.”
The older kunoichi snorted,
“I already know your story girl, I’m your teacher now. I can tell you are acting right now, so show me the real you.”
Reina abruptly stopped her movement.
“Everything?”
Aiko looked back at the girl and nodded.
“Everyting.”
Seeming to think on her response, the younger girl’s face took on a slightly contemplative look. Then her eyebrows drew together slightly.
“I thought I wasn’t going to get a teacher until later…but he mentioned a third party had told him it was unwise to wait. Was that person you?”
Ignoring the question, Aiko pushed the blame on the hokage. She couldn’t have the girl realize just how many pots she had her hands dipped in.
“The Hokage saw yesterday as evidence that you shouldn’t be sparing with the other kids your age. Not to mention the issue of your Chakra presence. People with better sensing abilities would probably mistake you with being some kind of jinchurri” Aiko replied, “But that’s for when we get to the training ground, tell me something about yourself.”
Reina looked down at her shoes.
“I really f*cking hate these. The shoes I mean. They block my feeling from sensing the ground slightly. It feels . . Stuffy”
The slight outburst shocked Aiko, but the girl kept talking.
“And I know that It is best for me to learn all of the Konoha traditions, and to try to assimilate. But WHY…. Why do people have to force me into a damn corner! The Hokage knows about the Ryuuchi, but he just let…. Some B class ninja go and restrain me… with no repercussions!! DON’T THEY KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THAT F*CKING IS”
Aiko let out a laugh at the young girl's words. That was definitely her clan’s influence there. She also couldn’t help but agree with her new little student, the town was run by archaic fools, but if she had voiced her opinion out loud she’d probably get thrown in T&I…. And that would totally ruin her plan.
So instead of agreeing with the girl, Aiko tried to reason.
“Hey, I know this is a hard time for you. Acting like the perfect princess is hard, trust me, I know..”
Her eyes seemed to drift away for a bit, remembering.
“You’re not the only one with a troubled past, kid. We’re ninja, practically everyone here has dead relatives.”
Reina huffed,
“But are their people extinct???”
Letting out a low whistle, Aiko looked back at Reina with a look that was too calm.
“You’d be surprised… I think the count of kids with extinct or almost extinct clans is…3? No. 4 now, you make 4.”
Reina dropped her arms and her face blanched.
“Oh shit…..”
Aiko let out a snort,
“Oh shit’s right, kid. You can yell or get angry around me, but that’s probably the extent of the anger you should show. Konoha’s not to keen on outsiders who don’t assimilate.”
Patting Reina on the shoulder, Aiko continued.
“ I get that it’ll be hard, so why don’t you work on your language. Not necessarily being subtle…”
Reina blushed in embarrassment, or what Aiko thought was a blush- It was hard to tell with her.
“Ah, sorry. But that’s exactly what I mean- I’m still getting used to the customs here.”
Aiko nodded her head in understanding, if she had been raised the way Reina had- she probably would have a harder time blending in than Reina had. It was quite impressive.
Starting to walk again, Aiko picked up her pace to hurry along their journey to one of the training grounds. Waving her hand behind her in a dismissive way, she reassured the girl.
“It’s neither here nor there, just giving you some tips to fit in. You’ll be working with me for a bit before you go back to the academy, so you got time. We can work on a better cover after we finish our first task.”
They made the rest of the walk in silence. Aiko was surprised at the fact that the girl was just following her, it seemed arrogant to follow someone without question of who they were, but if this girl was anything like her people- she was practically indestructible to anyone under the level of jonin.
Aiko knew that she didn’t necessarily look like a high level operative, and she definitely didn’t put out the Chakra levels of one, but that was exactly why she was assigned to Reina. As an S ranked ninja with almost no notoriety- she was the perfect teacher for promising ninja.
Well, SHE knew she was S ranked, but everyone else probably thought she was at the same level or even under kurenai. Which didn’t bother her in the slightest. It was better to be underestimated, a teaching she’d make sure to drill into her now 3 students.
And with that thought, Aiko Focused back on her newest kiddie.
Because what they were dealing with was a high level secret, the training ground was farther away than most. However, with the fast pace that Aiko had taken, and the incredible physical state that Reina was in- they got there in no time.
Making their way to the center of the grounds, Aiko sat down and crossed her legs. Looking at Reina, she signaled for her to sit. Aiko’s face took on a serious look.
“Now Reina. What I am going to say next is not going to make you happy, but I am going to need you to understand where the Hokage and I are coming from.”
Narrowing her eyes, Reina looked closely at the woman in front of her. The woman didn’t seem to hold any I’ll intent to her, but the serious look on her face worried her. More than likely, Reina would probably be backed into a corner again.
Her head nodded slowly at the older ninja, acknowledging her speech.
Aiko then looked down to her wrists, and Reina realised that the woman had two wristbands on- dark in color, with a shining ink seal on each. The woman then lifted up her hand to give the girl a better look at what was on the band.
“Have you ever heard of Fūinjutsu before?”
Reina nodded, while not a common practice In her village, she still knew a little about it.
“Yes, but I have never seen something like this before. My people didn’t really possess the conceptual talent to take the time to develop it as a skill.”
Aiko had guessed as much. With a Kekkei Genkai such as theirs, they didn’t really need to learn much in the ways of sealing.
“Then you should know that it’s a type of jutsu that can seal objects. Living beings, chakra, and many other things within another object.”
Reina could guess where the conversation was going.
“So you want to seal my chakra with these bands?”
Aiko scratched her head, and took off both of her wrist protectors- throwing them at Reina for her to look closer at. The level of chakra that came off the woman was now almost to the par of Naruto’s.
“Yes and no…” she started. “Each one of these seals is unique to the holder. These let me use my chakra without it being detected, but I have been tweaking them for years.”
Aiko let out a nervous breath and averted her eyes from the younger girl.
“Since I only have one core element- wind, it was easier to develop the seal. But you . . . you have a base in all of them- not to mention natural energy. If you wanted seals like these, it would take years of trial and error for me to make them for you.”
Aiko looked closer at the designs on the two bands and noted the swooping curls of the seal. It looked very intricate, and must have taken a brilliant mind to create.
“So I can’t mask my Chakra then?”
Aiko figited, a movement that looked foreign on the older ninja. Reina could only take this as her being very uncomfortable on what she would say next.
“Well. . no. I can mask your Chakra, but there would be some drawbacks.”
Reina tilted her head in question, “Drawbacks?”
Stealing her facial features, Aiko looked right into Reina’s eyes. What she would say next would not go over well with the girl. Especially one who was so chakra reliant.
“I can give you a basic seal for now. This wouldn’t account for your own nature, so the seal would completely block use of your Chakra. It…. It won’t be forever, but I cannot guarantee it will be a fast process. It could take anywhere between 2 and 5 years to develop a seal that works right for you.”
Reina didn’t think she was hearing the woman right. Completely block her Chakra?
“Oh, and I would have to draw it on you- so you wouldn’t be able to use any jutsu at all- well except for taijutsu- until we develop a new seal.”
Reina’s jaw dropped. NO JUTSU? Just who did the hokage think he was??!? She was only in this stupid town to learn her family's Jutsu! If she couldn’t practice, there was no reason for her to be there!
Moving to jump up and give the guy a piece of her mind- she was caught by the arm. Aiko firmly holding her in place.
“I know this is not ideal, but in order to stay in Konoha- this is the only solution. I will train you the best I can with Taijutsu- and help you acclimate to life without senjutsu, and Konoha in general. I promise it won’t be a forever thing, and you WILL get to learn your families birthright- but the fact of the matter is that you need to let me do this. It’s the only way.”
Once again, backed into a metaphorical corner, Reina let her control slip and harshness led it’s way into her features.
She didn’t have a choice.
“Fine, but I hate this f-cking village right now”
Aiko could hardly argue with the girl. If it was her, she’d be pissed as well.