Chapter 10

"The process is simple. It's just like the rest of the Academy. You keep up, you stay. You don't, you go back. Simple as that." Chizuru-sensei came to us and handed each of us a bundle of papers. Like our textbooks they were very colorful and had lots of eye-catching little figures and arrows pointing at relevant information.

"The papers we've given you show your new grade, class assignment, and other general information. Memorize them." I flipped the page on my given papers. Apparently I went up two grades. Since I couldn't look at other people's pages from here I couldn't tell if that was unusual.

"The changes are effective immediately, so you'll be going to these classes as soon as tomorrow." I flipped the pages and found a small diagram on the back detailing my performances thus far. Oh look. It even has helpful suggestions at the bottom on what to improve on. How nice.

"As part of the Konoha Prodigy Initiative Program, or PI for short, you'll be given certain privileges. PI kids for example, have unlimited access to the genin level archives in the library." Chizuru-sensei added.

"That said, it is a great responsibility to be given such a status, and I expect you all to carry it with honor." The principal finished, with a rueful look to his teachers.

They went on for a little while more until we were finally dismissed to go home.

On the way back down I compared papers with Hayama. "We're in the same class. Do you think it's a coincidence?" He asked.

I gave him a droll look. "We're being trained by ninja. Nothing is coincidence around here."

Once Hayama left with his parents I decided to stick around for a little while and thoroughly read the papers I was given. I didn't get the chance to though, as I was viciously ambushed in the middle of doing so.

"Mom, did you forget I like breathing?" I wheezed out. She eased up a little on her death-grip, allowing me the great luxury of respiration.

"Oh, what's that?" I tilted the papers a little to the side so she could read it.

"Prodigy something something." Her eyes lit up in acknowledgement.

"Oh that. I was wondering when they would give it to you." She said, a hint of pride in her voice.

"You know about it?" I asked, intrigued. She lifted me up and set me on her shoulder instead, and took to walking.

"Mmhmm. Tsume was part of it for a while, when the program first started."

"So what's it actually for?" They said they would give us "privileges," whatever the hell that means. They mentioned genin level access to the library, but not much else. The papers we were given didn't elaborate much on it either.

"It's mostly to get talented kids through the system faster. It's also a highlight to other teachers to pay you a little more attention than others. I think Tsume also got some extra work along with it? I don't remember." So it's like an honor roll compared with some special kid program type thing? Alright. It probably won't change much, anyway.

"Mmm. Hey mom, can you teach me more shurikenjutsu?" She sighed, but it wasn't a fed up one. "So it's a yes then?"

"Hello class. These are our new students joining us from other classes. Make sure to free up some space for them." Our new homeroom teacher, Yamada-sensei, said. He was nondescript, a lot different from the quiet oppressive aura Chizuru-sensei held.

I switched my gaze to the class, trying to find a spot big enough in the rows of children for both me and Hayama. A lot of the children were obviously older than us, though I could see a small few a little closer to our age, likely being PI kids as well. They all gave us scornful gazes, which could only be a good sign. Hayama nudged me to a corner in the back that was semi-free and we headed over there. He seemed nervous but I didn't mind. The glaring would lessen the more we were here, and Anko wasn't here. Always a bonus.

"We'll be fine." I whispered to him.

He gulped. "I hope so."

"I'm just glad he didn't make us introduce ourselves." I muttered with a smirk as the teacher continued talking about today's schedule.

"We will start our second round of sparring today at noon, so make sure not to waste too much chakra during class today." Both of our heads sprang up at the announcement. The few other PI kids who joined us in the class did the same. We would actually be using our chakra? And not only that, but spar?!

"Alright let's start with…" Yamada-sensei looked over each of our groups carefully, cross referencing it with the list in his hands. "Arata-kun and Ayame-chan." Oh great.

I hesitantly walked over to the middle of the makeshift ring around us meant to serve as some sort of arena, and saw a girl on the opposite side of the ring do the same. She seemed to have none of the trepidation I did though.

I started prepping myself up, and focused on my target. I recognised her as one of the PI kids I came into the classroom with, so she's around my age, with somewhat long ash-gray hair and a vibrant face. Seems nimble, for a supposed five year old.

"Let's do this, yeah?" She exclaimed. I didn't trust her eyes. Those eyes only spelled danger.

"Um, sure." We made the Seal of Confrontation and waited for Yamada-sensei.

"Begin!"

Before I got time to assume a stance, Ayame practically flew over to my side, fists at her side.

Shit. I rolled to the side, and kicked outwards with my left foot while on the ground. It hit her guard, and she stumbled away from me a bit.

Okay new plan. I kicked away a punch she sent for me, and blocked her follow up punch with my elbow, bringing me closer and closer to my face. She smirked, and headbutted me. I fell down to the ground, holding my face. Because ow. Feeling her chakra coming closer, I rolled to the side again to see her heels come eerily close to my head. This girl doesn't mess around.

In the background people were making noise over our fight. I jumped off of the ground, and prepared a stance. This would be difficult.

Having to duck another punch, I was feeling very much over it and started a kicking barrage, lifting my left leg.

Left, left, under. A simple pattern really, but highly effective. It swept her off her feet and this time she had to roll away. She clutched her right arm a little, all with a smirk on her face, not once taking her eyes off me. Creepy much?

"You're really good."

"I could say the same for you." I leapt, claw hands forwards.

She ducked and blocked her head with her arms, gaining the brunt of the damage there. We had to take a moment to re-balance ourselves, and re-angle. That didn't go all that great did it. She smiled again.

"Too bad I'm gonna take you down anyways." Suddenly, she crouched down, changing her stance to better accommodate.. whatever she was doing. She sneered at me, and launched.

She appeared down at my feet, and kicked upwards towards my chin, breaking my cross-guard. Then slammed another kick through my stomach. She wasn't done, however, and proceeded to grapple my arm within hers, snaking around it and using that leverage, catching my head in a leg-lock, flipping me over and slamming me on the ground.

Through the haze that came from the assault, I could vaguely hear the match being called.

"That was so fun!" She offered me a hand, and we made the Seal of Reconciliation. Already Yamada-sensei was calling up the next fighters.

I rejoined Hayama, this time with Ayame next to me. "We have to do that again! I've never had a challenge from someone so small before!" I bristled.

"What do you mean small? I'm taller than you!" She still. Kept. Smiling.

"Smaller than the rest I took down, so small enough." I clicked my tongue. Hayama looked between us, not saying a word.

I dedicated my focus on watching the other matches, and decidedly not on Ayame, who was still next to us for some reason. None of them were quite as fast as her, but still displayed some interesting technique. One of them, a Hyuuga based on his fighting style, took out his opponent in less than ten seconds. Interesting.

Hayama eventually had to go up and fight, and because Yamada-sensei took pity on his jittery form, paired him up with an even more scared-looking boy. Another PI kid. Hayama's never actually learned taijutsu. His parents teach him kenjutsu instead. I figure that he thought he could compensate with the Academy style later, but that's all messed over now. And as a consequence, he lost. Horribly. The jeering was annoying, and would do nothing for his self-esteem. I took him out of the ring, as he was practically frozen under the disdain, and I made sure to glare at the worst offenders. We were far from done here.

"We'll get back at them, don't worry about that." I whispered into his ear. He didn't look any part of reassured. I very deliberately took him with me to the opposite side of the ring, but there she was again, as if I totally didn't go here on purpose.

"Mm? What's wrong?" She asked, her face the zenith of innocence. I didn't answer her, and just resolved myself to watching the last of the fights. I was very aware I was being unnecessarily obstinate, but something about her didn't quite strike me as right.

"Hey, are you okay?" I heard from behind me. Glancing from my peripheral vision I saw Ayame there checking up on him, her hands glowing green.

"How are you doing that?" I asked, a little shaken. The amount of chakra needed for any type of iryo-ninjutsu at this stage makes it pretty impossible to use. Even a simple Diagnostic Jutsu would drain my reserves in seconds.

Hayama looked at her just as wondrously as the large scrape on his leg healed over.

"Sorry, that's all I can do. This stuff's pretty draining ya know?" She said, a little strain visible on her face.

Hayama seemed to pay it no mind. "That was awesome!" Ayame just giggled a little, sitting down next to him.

A little while later all the fights ended and we were called back inside. "Hey why don't you guys come to my group tomorrow after class?" Ayame asked.

"What group?" I asked, making sure to put myself between her and Hayama.

"My group! We meet at Training Ground 12 and just hangout or train. It's fun!"

Hayama looked ready to accept but I cut him off. "We'll think about it." She nodded, and walked over to her seat in the classroom.

"Why didn't you say yes? We could finally make some friends." I tried not to show my displeasure at the dastardly statement.

"I don't trust her. You don't need Jounin level perception to tell that something about her is just off." Hayama puffed up his cheeks.

"She's nice. You're just mad she beat you."

"Am not!" I hissed, just as Yamada-sensei walked in after some of the kids who took forever to get back in the classroom.

"Whatever, fine. We'll just go see what they're all about. That's it. That's all we're gonna do." Hayama nodded slowly and turned to Yamada-sensei starting up the class again.

"Why am I here again? It's my day off! I could have caught up on more sleep." Shiromaru whined on top of my head.

"You're insurance. If things go haywire I'mma need you there to help." I responded.

Hayama walked beside me, bokken on his hip. "Since when can your partner talk?"

"Since ever. He just never bothered before." Hayama just nodded, not wanting to pry further.

We reached the place where Ayame stood waiting for us. "Finally, you slowpokes! Everyone is already there! Let's go!"

And then she was gone, already hopping through the village rooftops. I clicked my tongue and followed after her, Hayama on my tail. Not literally of course.

Reaching Training Ground 12 I looked over the familiar field and lake. Aaand yup, there she was.

"You!" Anko shouted. "Ayame-chan! What is he doing here?!"

"What-what do you mea- Arata!?" Oh look, Tomoe too. This is just great.

"Oh hey! it's Arata!" Kouta shouted.

I almost sweatdropped. 'What is Hayama then? Hot air?'

'For all his presence, he might as well be.' Shiromaru replied in my head.

'Hey, be nice.' He didn't respond.

"Sup, Hyuurou." He grinned, as all three of them walked over. I looked at the rest of the collected children. There were about ten total, some I recognized, some I didn't.

"Ayame-chan! When you said you'd bring in talented new members this is not what I thought you would bring. Scared boy and broody boy? Why would you bring them here? They can barely talk! They can't fight!"

I smirked. "Says the girl whose ass I beat and then ran off." She grinded her teeth together at the reminder.

"That never happened you dimwit! I was going easy on you."

Tomoe next to her cheered her on. "Yeah there's no way you'd lose to him, Anko!" Anko smiled nervously.

"Then how about this? We do a 3 vs 3. Anko, Tomoe and her partner against Hayama, Arata and his partner. I'll ref." Ayame suggested. Yeah she definitely planned this. There's no way she didn't. All the children in the group started jeering.

"Ooh you should totally do it, Arata! It'd be fun to see you fight." Kouta added over the noise.

Tomoe looked ready to go, hunger in her eyes while Hayama backed off and hid slightly behind me. I sighed. "Hayama?"

"..I won't be on my own, right?" He asked, voice small. In the background the rest of the kids all psyched themselves up for the coming fight.

"Be there the whole time. Shiromaru too." Grudgingly, Shiromaru inclined his head. This was going to be tough fight, no two ways about it. Mentally going through my inventory, cross referencing it with what I knew of my opponents I knew I came up laughably short. I was going to rely pretty heavily on Hayama here to get the job done, so I definitely needed him on his game.

The children looked content to keep their merry jeering going for a little while, Ayame gently guiding them off to the side to make space for us. Taking advantage of it, I whispered my battle plan to Hayama. He seemed to get measurably more confident the more I explained to him. Seems he likes a plan.

Squaring up in front of our opponents the crowd noise died down and the focus shifted back over to us. There was a kind of weight in the air, some important focus or force that I couldn't quite place settled over the place. Even Shiromaru looked serious. Time to get my A-game on. Whatever that is.

Ayame stood at the front, her arm in the air. "On my signal." She made eye contact with each of us, before quickly bringing her hand down. "Go."

I flew into hand signs as Shiromaru and I moved in front of Hayama towards our opponents. Changing into canine form I switched lanes with Shiromaru as soon as Anko dropped a smoke bomb at us.

Good.

Suddenly, a small form tackled into me and I stumbled back. Just barely dodging Tomoe's claws I faced off against her. Growling, we circled each other. The smoke was still fresh in the air, the smell itching at my nose. Potent ones, then.

Even better.

"Cheh. You think you're so much better just because of those stupid red eyes. You don't know anything!" She scowled.

"You talk too much." I said, trying to imitate Shiromaru's lazy drawl. Not that Tomoe would know what he would sound like.

"I'll show you. Everyone knows canines are weaker at this stage! I'll beat you! And then Arata! And then everyone will recognize me!" Way to sound like a villainous Naruto. Still, where is this contempt coming from? If anything, people avoid Shiromaru because of his red eyes. Even then I- Oh shit!

Tomoe came at me, the image too blurred to make out a form and, just before I could dodge, kicked away at me.

"Yeah! You like that?" Tomoe cheered. "That's what you get when you mess with me! Wait what the heck?!" She exclaimed as soon as the smoke cleared.

Shiromaru and Mariko were off to the side, biting at each other and just missing each time, circling each other much like we did. What was most eye-catching though was Hayama in a tug-of-war with Anko entangled in a ridiculous amount of his ninja wire. The crowd broke out in noise again.

I smiled, poofed out of my canine form and ran over to them, Tomoe on my now non-existent tail. "Hayama! Now!" I shouted as I finished the hand signs.

As soon as my hands reached the wire, Hayama let go and jumped away.

"Lightning Release: Striking Bolt!" The lightning rushed through the wires, shocking the trapped Anko in it and dropping her to the ground. One down.

Looking over my shoulder I saw Hayama barely holding away Tomoe with his bokken swinging wildly. "Aaaaaah!" Oh my God.

'Shiromaru!' I called inside my head, Four Legs already running.

'Gotcha!' Suddenly, he jumped backwards, and Mariko, almost unconsciously chasing him, followed suit just in time for me to hit her with a brutal Hunter's Kick. Feeling my legs connect with her skull I knew she would be out for the rest of the match.

"And that's two." Shiromaru said.

"Let's go." I turned around and ran over to Hayama and Tomoe, Shiromaru at my side, shooting me a sidelong look of worry. I was getting tired. Three different jutsu in a row is taking a toll on me, and the fight's been barely a minute long.

We came to the scene of Tomoe just barely missing Hayama's face with her claw strikes. The bokken he was holding was chipped and scratched, little wood scraps littering the floor around them.

'High, low.'

'Got it.'

I jumped up again, this time whirling into a Tornado Kick while Shiromaru angled downwards and launched himself at Tomoe's legs. It felt like we were two rockets, slamming into her with all the power we could muster. Tomoe turned around just too late for her to block, and twisted awkwardly from the two different trajectories, landing on her face in the dirt.

"And that's three."

The crowd cheered. You'd think from such a small crowd of children it wouldn't be this goddamn loud. Oh wait, I still have my Four Legs on.

Tuning my chakra back down again, I dodged just in time from Hayama tackling into me. "We did it! We won! We actually did it!"

"What do you mean actually? We were always going to win." Yeah that's a lie. We barely made it out. If the fight lasted for just a little longer, or one of the many variables I counted on weren't there for the plan, this could have gone horribly wrong. None of us could really hold our own physically against Tomoe, and Anko, despite my earlier fight with her is pretty much an unknown.

Basically, we lucked out.

Hayama tackled me again, crushing me under his hug. "What are you, my mom?" He just grinned, the bastard.

'Shut up, you like him.'

'You shut up.'

'Cheh. Never.'

'Well you're a bastard too then.'

"Um, Tsume-nee? Kuromaru? What's all this?" The amount of chakra they were building up was just gross.

Tsume opened her eyes, the chakra dialing back down from 'What kind of nuke are you launching?' to 'just mildly explosive.' "Wha? Arata, don't interrupt my meditation."

I sat down next to her. "What are you guys even meditating for that needs that much chakra?"

She sighed. "Hiden. Now go away."

I weighed the pros and cons of prodding further. "Okay then." I stood up to leave.

"No wait. Stay." I slowly sat back down again. What am I? A house dog? No, don't answer that.

She gave me a once-over. "So how bad did ya lose?" She asked, eyeing my roughed up state. Dirt and grime on my clothes and in my hair, a ripped sleeve there. Cuts on my shins and a faint claw mark on my hand. Pretty sure there was still a twig in my shoe.

"I didn't. My opponent's just a sore loser, so I had to take a detour." After our fight (and subsequent celebration) we were gladly welcomed into the fold and introduced. Most of them seemed okay enough, and they absolutely adored Shiromaru, much to his annoyance, which naturally amused me greatly. So all in all I considered the whole thing a plus. Then Tomoe got all mad about losing and decided chasing me halfway through Konoha was a better idea than nursing what's left of her too large for her head pride. So fun times.

Kuromaru next to her started chuckling. "Detour. Right. A hasty detour."

I acted like I didn't hear him, which absolutely no one would believe. I still did it though.

"Well okay. Better question, why are you here? There's no training today."

"Can't I just visit my dearest Nee-chan every once in a while?"

She didn't miss a beat. "No. What do you want?"

"I ran out of chakra a little too fast for my liking. So, I need more."

She sighed and stood up, stretching her arms over her head. "Do some training, use more jutsu. Figure it out."

"I've been doing that. It doesn't work." I pouted.

She paused for a little, staring into the open space of the training field. "Put the Four Legs up. Let's see what's wrong here."

I did as she asked, shaking some leaves from inside of my shirt out first. Damn that Tomoe. I feel like a bush.

Coming back to the feeling of heightened awareness the technique brings, I quickly burned through whatever chakra I gained since the fight.

"So what'd you get out of that?" I asked, sweaty and a tad shaky.

"Your balances are off. You're either using too much spiritual energy or too much physical. It flip-flops a lot."

"How can you tell?"

She turned up her nose haughtily. "I can smell chakra."

"You can what?" I've heard of the strangest things people say they've smelt over the years, from light pollution to ponytails, but never chakra. Smelling chakra should, by all accounts, be impossible, since by its very ambiguous and metaphysical nature is not something you can smell.

"Can you smell natural energy?"

"Natu what now?"

"Never mind. So what's the problem then?"

"Well, you have an unnatural amount of spiritual energy, but not much physical energy, which I think would make balancing pretty difficult for ya. The trick's just keeping consistent I guess."

I stood up, trying not to react to that. "And how do I practice that?"

She smiled. "No clue."

'Ne, Shiromaru.' I asked, once mom and dad left. The house at night was calm and silent, light barely reaching my eyes from the lack of windows. The only clearly visible thing was Shiromaru's bright white fur reflecting off the moonlight.

'Yeah?' I had my own room by now, one at the edge of the compound. It's a lot bigger than I'm used to, and I'm still trying to find a way to fill all the space. Shiromaru's giant dog bed takes up a good portion, but it still feels empty, as if something is missing.

'Do you ever think about the other world?' He was quiet for a while, his eyes closed. Is he sleeping?

'Sometimes. Why?' My eyes started scanning the room, searching. In the corner there were plenty of scrolls on jutsu hastily scribbled together by Tsume, along with my notes and classwork interspersed.

'I… lost a lot. Family.. Friends.. Before, I sometimes wondered if they were better off without me. Yet now, I don't know.' Next to my bed there was a bear plushie, left behind for me by my parents for my third birthday. I never really knew what to do with it, so I just kept it next to wherever I slept.

'Why do you say that?' I looked down to my sleeves, trying not to grimace. One day Shizuka just randomly grabbed me and headed to a tailor to get my own outfit made. Apparently that was important. It's a black kimono/gi combination thing, with secret pockets and spaces on the inside for any weapons. Not that it's meant to be subtle, mind, with a giant Inuzuka emblem on the back in a lighter gray. It also had accompanying standard ninja pants so it's not like it lacks for practicality. So far it's a little too big for me, so I've been using it as sleepwear.

'I don't know. It was a dark period in my life. I'm over it now, or I thought I was. Now they are actually are without me...and..'

'And you wonder what they're thinking?' I sighed. I'm doing that a lot lately, aren't I?

'You know? Sometimes I wonder what it'd be like—living in a world without this much fighting. Not having to get up to train everyday,' He opened his eyes. 'Not having to constantly prove myself. It'd be nice. But I don't' live in that world. I think instead of looking at what others think, try and focus on your situation. We're going to war after all. I'd like to make it through alive.'

I huffed. 'Sure. Why not.'

'What brought this on anyway?'

'My spiritual energy. I didn't think anything but my mind would follow me into this world. It just got me reflective, I guess.'

'Eh, I like it. I've been feeding off of it for a while now.' I jerked.

'What? You can do that?' He looked at me like I was an idiot.

'To an extent. How else would you explain me?' Now that I think about, having a ninken capable of this level of speech when he's not even a year old is ridiculous.

'Fair.' I conceded.

'..Tomoe. She's suspicious.' He said, his tone changing. 'There's something going on around here we don't know about.' What she said during our fight was interesting, to say the least.

I flopped onto my bed. 'I know. But it's not like we can do much about it now except train.'

'Ugh. Training.'

'You'll learn to like it eventually.'

'Yeah, when Tenten becomes Hokage.'

I chuckled. 'Well, you never know. She isn't born yet, so things could still change.'

'Cheh. Sure they will. Go to bed, loser.'

'Goodnight~'

'Night, bitch.'

Yeah it's been way too long. At this pace this story would still be going a decade later. And no I'll never abandon this story. Well, unless I die, which means I'd need to find a way to write this series from beyond the grave, and that might take a while.

ANYWAYS. Sorry about the delay (not that I have a schedule..) (Stop ranting!) Finals and busy stuff. Fun. Going back to The Netherlands for vacation, so I should have more time to write. I'll see. Chapter was a little meh at stages, which I hope you can forgive. Anything else? Probably.

Have a good day!

Revised 4/25/2020