Psuedo-back

Time passed, and Hinote's lessons continued. From practicing the rote basics of hand-to-hand combat, throwing hundreds upon hundreds of the same punches, to drawing a Kunai again and again - it was the most basic of repetitions. Yet, every day her punches were just a bit faster, just a bit smoother. Every day her Kunai and Shuriken exercises took less time, and where completed with fewer failures. 

But, that was not all that she was taught. "You see Hinote, this berry here," The middle-aged man that had one fogged-over eye held up a small purple berry, "and this one here," he held up another berry - that looked just the same, "are in fact two separate types of berries. One of them is edible. The other? Horrifically poisonous. You can tell how they're different by the..."

While her survival lessons weren't every day, anytime they were held was certainly impactful. The wisdom of an ancient clan that had to not that long ago fend the wilds every day was vast, and it had only grown after the founding of Konoha. 'I could spend decades just learning all the different tidbits the clan has... but I'll learn it all one day.' There were very few things that were a greater joy than learning knowledge that not only could but would help you, and so it was these small, seemingly simple lessons that Hinote took to with the greatest joy.

Perhaps exercising till your bones creak, practicing with your Kunai until your fingers split, or studying some treatise on combat until your head pounded could be seen as more important. 'But survival is survival. So much of what I'm learning is actually quite simple and just needs a slight re-adjustment in thought for me to understand it. But things relating to survival? To herbs, berries, animals, tracks, and the like? I truly don't know that.' 

Survival lessons were the one thing in Hinote's life that she could never predict, that she never would truly master, and... it was nice. 'It's nice to not have a topic where within minutes I understand it better than a mentor. When I don't have to ignore the sensei telling me how to do some strange physical exercise, because I can feel a better way to do it, it's nice to have a lesson that while simple and basic, is actually engaging and stimulating, unlike the rote drawing of Kunai and Shuriken. It's... it's nice just to be DOING things new and interesting.' 

Needless to say, she took to survival lessons like a duck to water. That wasn't to say her other learnings weren't going excellently - because they were. The books, scrolls, and the like that she read were easily not just read and looked over, but actually understood. Where others would have to read over something a dozen times too truly and actually understand and internalize it, she just had to do it once or twice. When a book referenced something and others had to look for the reference, she simply knew it already. When most would struggle through parsing the laws of not just Konoha, but the Land of Fire in general, her brain just made connections, binding different laws together, bringing up knowledge she didn't even know she had, or just parsed through intense and stupid legalese wording... yet it somehow just made sense.

It was insane, nonsensical, and honestly, it felt at times obscene. 'But... I'm not just a regular person genius, am I? I'm a fantasy genius. An ANIME genius. How did Tony Stark build an iron man suit in a fucking cave with no highly advanced technology? He's Tony fucking Stark. How does Shikamaru have over 200 IQ, yet people believe Kakashi is even smarter? He's fucking Kakashi. Logic doesn't matter, reason doesn't matter... when you're a fantasy genius, it just works.' It was at times overwhelming, and yet, Hinote couldn't deny the thrill she got from devouring books and truly understanding them. The deeper hidden meanings, the surface thoughts, and the intentions of a book or scroll. Compared to her past self, or others who would struggle time and time again, and often times never REALLY understand it, yet thinking they did, the difference was glorious.

'It's amazing - frightening, but amazing.' 

Then, of course, there were her daily meditations. After training her hand-to-hand, after physical exercise, and right before bedtime. When Hinote first got into her schedule there was a worry. What if because she was so good at everything else, she would fail here? What if her brain was TOO smart? What if she could never relax, never delve deep into the meditation? 'Hah... a genius is a genius. It's as simple as that.' Truly, it was just as simple as that. Her progress in meditation, visualizing her breaths throughout her body, the flow of 'air', understanding her aching muscles, picturing things in her mind, and so many different forms of meditation... it just came to her. She grew in spades, her mind emptied faster and faster, and the mental clarity of everything she did grew swiftly in time, seemingly progressing every day.

Yet, one thought had slowly grown over these last couple of weeks after her training truly started. 'How do I really stack up? Kakashi was a mere child when he became a Genin, Chunin, and Jonin. So was Itachi. Minato as a Genin seemingly slaughtered Jonin. In 3 years Sakura became the 2nd or 3rd best medical professional in the world. Even though canonically she was still shit at Taijutsu. Naruto mastered in weeks what took Jiraiya decades to barely even learn.' It was a creeping thought that always slithered in, corrupting her thoughts and spreading doubt throughout her being. How did she stack up? She knew she was excellent, a genius by any coining of the word. With her education from her past life, combined with her new brain, she could do mental maths on a comparatively obscene level. The fanfiction academy or Chunin Exam question of calculating the throw of a Kunai in various scenarios? Easily done. Multiplication including exponents of numbers in a large quantity of numerous digits? Simple as breathing. Finding x no matter how many fractions, exponents, parenthesis, and stupid formulas are needed? Easy as pie! Yet, none of it told her anything. She has no point of comparison.

None of it told her if she had the spark, that X-factor that was necessary. 'None of it tells me if I'll be able to ever match the monsters that haunt this world. None of it even tells me if I'll ever be anything but an average Jonin - hell, maybe even only a Special Jonin.' She knew, intellectually speaking, that the fear was ridiculous. She was absurdly smart, talented, and most of all - a reincarnation with a supportive clan. 'But no matter how logical you are, fear is fear... and sometimes too much knowledge can supersede that logic.' 

"-note! Hinote!" Snapping out of her thoughts Hinote blinked. 'Oh right, lessons!' 

"Aah, sorry Sensei! I won't get distracted again."

"You better Hinote, now when did you stop listening to me, young lady?"

"Aah.... the purple berries sensei?"

A tick mark developed over his head, "That was ten minutes ago young lady!"

"Sorry sensei...."