“Stop her!”
I sprinted down the road with a small bag of coins in one hand and a bag of groceries in the other. Those shinobi really were persistent. Nevertheless, I continued to make a break for it. I needed to money and I was hungry. It’s been like this for as long as I could remember. I just remembered waking up in the middle of nowhere one day. I only knew three things back then; my name is Riku, I was seven years old, and I’m a kunoichi.
“Keep following her!”
With a light thud, I jumped and landed on the roof of some building and began running on the rooftops of the houses and stores. It was going to take more than some sprinting to get those shinobi off my tail. I jumped off the building and landed in a four-way intersection. The shinobi were gaining on me, so I took a sharp turn to the right and made a break for it. On my way, I knocked over a few baskets of watermelon and apples to get in their way so I had more time to shake them off. Another sharp turn brought me to an alleyway. Unfortunately, it was a dead end.
“Your escape ends here, kid.” The leader of the group of shinobi announced with a smirk. He approached me with a confident look in his eyes, but I wasn’t going to let him have his way anytime soon.
A few hand signs did the trick; hare, boar, monkey, ox. “Ishihako,” I murmured while holding out my hands. All it took was a wave of chakra to put the genjutsu into action. Messing with their senses rendered them unable to move because I made it seem like they were all trapped in stone boxes. With a smirk, I jumped over them and out of the alley, releasing the genjutsu when I was sure I was far enough from them. When I reached the edge of the forest, I could just hear a loud, angry cry in the distance.
“I’ll get you one day, Riku! And when that day comes, you will never see the light of day! Ever! Again!”
I chuckled to myself and pulled down my mask. “Hey, a girl’s gotta eat.”
The groceries I had stolen would last me about three days. I was just in the Hot Springs Country, Yu no Kuni, so I had more than enough until I reached Konoha. Back when I was in the Frost Country, I managed to get the Daimyou to send a message to the Hokage. He and I are good pals; I saved his daughter from a hungry hoard of wild dogs once, but it was actually because I was going to follow her home and steal her food. I never told the Daimyou that and I got a few thousand yen, as well as food to last me two weeks as a reward.
After five years of wandering country to country, I figured it was finally time to find a place to stay. The Daimyou of the Frost Country asked me why I didn’t just stay there, but I told him I had some stuff to do. I wanted to know where I came from and Konoha’s the biggest Hidden Village full of talented shinobi. I know I can find answers there.
“I could use a little more change, though.” I sighed to myself. The pouch was loaded, but it was loaded with coins of lesser value. It would have to do for now.
I retied my mask and cleared up my small campsite before jumping off towards the Fire Country. There was no rush, really, but I wanted to get out of the Hot Springs Country as soon as possible. If it wasn’t obvious, I’m a bit of a criminal there, but it’s nothing big. All I did was steal a couple of times to keep myself going. Yeah, that one shinobi that tried to capture me and I, we go way back to when I first got there last year.
By the time the sun had started to set, I had covered a good seven miles or so. I was in the Fire Country already, but now I had to make sure I wouldn’t get caught. If any of their shinobi found me, it would really look like I was—
“Trespassing?” A voice called from behind me. I spun around with a kunai already in hand to come face to face with a jounin and three genin, all ready to attack. The jounin had a mask, much like mine, and a headband covering his left eye. There was one girl on the team with pink hair. One of the males wore a rather obnoxious orange jump suit and the other had a navy blue T-shirt. All their headbands were visible; they’re Konoha shinobi themselves.
I narrowed my eyes and took a step back slowly so it wouldn’t seem like I was trying anything fancy. “I’m not looking for trouble.” I stated calmly while standing up straight. To prove my point, I spun my kunai in my hand to grab it by the handle and slipped it back into my weapon pouch.
“State your purpose.” The jounin demanded. Clearly, he meant business.
Some shinobi just have a stick shoved way too far up their ass. “I’m on my way to Konohagakure. The Hokage already knows that I’m heading over. Was just about to set up camp to spend the night until you guys showed up.” I explained with an uninterested look in my eyes. Maybe I should have seen this coming. Although the four of them seemed to be less cautious around me, it was obvious that they weren’t taking any chances with me. It was understandable. I probably would have been angry if they hadn’t been so cautious, despite my age and appearance.
“Konoha isn’t that far away,” The jounin started again while telling the three genin to lower their weapons, “so we’ll take you there. Unless you were lying, I’m sure you wouldn’t mind.”
“I accept your offer,” I answered with the faintest smirk. There was nothing to hide, anyway. I wasn’t lying, so I didn’t mind travelling back with them at all. Plus, maybe they had food or something. The stuff I stole earlier wasn’t so great. But hey, when you’re hungry, there’s no time to be picky.
Naturally, the team didn’t introduce themselves to a stranger like me. Of course, I kept my name to myself as well. The only information they got from me was the stuff I told them earlier about staying in Konoha. I did, however, have to explain that I was a wandering shinobi. Since I had no citizenship, I had no passport or anything.
A few hours was all it took to get to Konoha. The guards at the gate greeted the team and eyed me a bit, but the jounin explained the situation and they let me through. I followed the team through the village and towards the Hokage’s palace. All the while, I couldn’t help but look around me. The village was quite lively. Villagers were scurrying here and there to get work done and such and shinobi were jumping about, going from rooftop to rooftop. The weather was nice, too. Clear, blue skies with a few clouds that floated by. It’s a peaceful village, really.
“We’re here.” The jounin grabbed my attention as we entered the palace.
The walls were lined with various paintings. Some were of plants and others were of animals. None of them were really interesting until I came across these nine paintings that were hung up on the wall in their own group, so it seemed. They seemed to be some sort of demon and as I walked down the hall, each creature had another tail added. I shook my head and dismissed the paintings when the jounin knocked on a door. Above it, there was a wooden pallet that had the kanji word for fire on it. I assumed this was where the Hokage was.
“Come in.” The voice that spoke sounded frustrated.
The jounin opened the door to reveal the Hokage sitting behind her desk. She looked pretty young, but her hard stare made creases in her forehead, giving off the impression that she was older. While she didn’t seem too bad, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little intimidated at first.
Standing next to the Hokage was a young, dark-haired woman who smiled at us as we entered. In her arms was a pig. I furrowed my brows a bit at first, but decided that it was nothing out of the ordinary. The Daimyou had a goat, if I remember correctly.
While the jounin, the kunoichi, and the dark-haired boy greeted the Hokage respectfully, the blond one pointed at the old man and began to mouth him off.
“I thought I was going to start getting harder missions from now on!” He shouted with an annoyed look in his eyes. I gave a confused look to the rest of the team, but they all just sighed and shook their heads. “That mission was a piece of cake! I’m a genin now, give me harder ones!” The blond demanded while shaking his fist.
“Shut the hell up, you brat!” The Hokage immediately shouted while slamming her hands on the desk. I jumped back a little from the startling noise and looked at the others, only to receive looks that told me that this was just how things were. “Who’s this girl?” She asked, now looking at me. Her temper seemed to cool, but I reminded myself not to anger her. I took notice to the lack of names being used. These shinobi were respectable, except maybe the one in the orange jumpsuit.
“Ts-Tsunade-sama…!” The woman stammered nervously while gesturing towards the Hokage to calm down. She gave me an apologetic look and I tried my best to convey an understanding look, though the Hokage’s tone and short temper took me by surprise. The Daimyou is an incredibly gentle man, so the change is a little drastic.
Before the jounin could speak, I decided to speak for myself. “I’m the one the Daimyou of the Frost Country mentioned to you; the one that’s hoping to stay in the village.” The moment I mentioned the Daimyou, the Hokage seemed to be less wary of me.
“Oh, so you’re Riku.” She stated while pulling out some documents. It looked like I had some paperwork to fill out before I could become an actual villager or shinobi or something. “You’re lucky you were found by Kakashi and his team, or things might’ve gotten tough at the gates.”
“I’m grateful,” I replied with a humble look in my eyes before giving the jounin a victorious glance. The jounin, whose name was apparently Kakashi, responded with once of indifference. What a bore.
The Hokage seemed to be pleased with my demeanour and even offered a smile. Suddenly, she looked a lot less intimidating than before. “Heh, it’s nice to know that there’s somebody who knows how to pay their respects.” Naruto immediately started to say something about how she just doesn’t appreciate him, but he was immediately silenced with another tempered yell. I made a mental note not to let her calm appearance fool me. This woman was just a ticking time bomb, wasn’t she?
After sighing heavily, she asked me to step forward. “The Daimyou mentioned in the message that you’re also a shinobi,” she started while pulling out a Konoha headband. The team looked a bit confused, but so was I. “Since you’re seeking residence in Konoha, you should at least make yourself useful by becoming a genin. You can perform the qualification test now, if you want.”
Although I did want to become a genin, I wondered if I wanted to become one for Konoha. I was a traveller, so I wasn’t used to staying in one place. I looked back at the team. The blond seemed to urge me to accept the offer, so I assumed he was the kind who liked meeting new people. I sighed and looked back at the Hokage before deciding. “…I guess I don’t see why not.”
“Then it’s settled. The test is easy, just make two clones of yourself.” The Hokage explained with a smirk, waving her hand nonchalantly. I paused and pressed my lips into a firm line. She noticed my hesitation and gave me a slightly impatient look. “Hey, this is an academy-level technique; it should easy. The Daimyou wasn’t lying when he said you’re a shinobi, right?”
“Well, no—” I started before cutting myself off. What I was about to say probably wouldn’t be something the Hokage wanted to hear. Anticipating another burst of angry, I hesitantly began to explain myself. “I’m a shinobi, but…” I gulped, but refused to break my gaze away from the Hokage. “…I don’t know any ninjutsu.”
There was an odd silence before the kunoichi and the blond genin let out a loud “What?!” The dark-haired boy looked incredibly unimpressed while Kakashi and the Hokage looked either concerned or puzzled. I stuck my hands into my jacket pockets and shrugged.
“I’ve never been to any academy or anything.” I stated while looking up at the Hokage. “I know genjutsu though. I can make it look like I made two clones of myself – see?” I suggested while forming two hand signs. There seemed to be a slight ripple in the air and before long, two more images of me appeared. For a moment, the Hokage stared at the edge of her desk in thought before finally gesturing for me to approach her. Cautiously, I did.
She handed me a few sheets of paper for me to fill out - stuff like ownership over an apartment and residency - before clearing her throat. “While I wish the Daimyou would’ve had the courtesy of mentioning this in his letter,” I took note o the annoyance behind her furrowed brows, “it’s not like it’s all over for you. We have a shinobi with a similar case to yours and your genjutsu looks promising.” I gave a slow nod but wasn’t exactly sure what she was getting at. “Even though you technically passed, you’d be capable of using ninjutsu if you were trained properly.”
Now more relaxed, I let myself give her a confused stare. I didn’t really want to have to study at the Academy, if that’s what she was getting at. While it’s true that I knew next to nothing when it came to ninjutsu, that didn’t mean I wanted to spend my time studying with toddlers.
“So, I’ll let you train with one of our genin teams so you can learn ninjutsu. When you’re ready, you’ll come back and pass the test properly.” She spoke with a confident smirk.
“Sounds simple enough.” Train with a team, learn ninjutsu, pass test, become a proper genin. No big deal. I don’t mean to sound cocky, but I’m a skilled genjutsu user. My chakra control is probably above average compared to regular genin, so picking up ninjutsu shouldn’t be that big of a problem for me. “Whom will I train with?”
The Hokage simply pointed behind me. I turned around to face the team that brought me here to see the blond one excited to have a new teammate, the girl seemingly curious about how things would go down, and the dark-haired boy turning his head away. He seemed to lack interest in a great number of things. Kakashi – I suppose from now on he’s Kakashi-sensei to me – looked down at me with a curious look in his right eye.
With no complaints, I grabbed the sheets that I had to fill out and thanked the Hokage for her help. I exited the building with the team and before I went on my own way, said goodbye to them as well. Before I took another step, however, the jounin called me out. I spun around with a questioning look in my eyes before he stated in a bored voice, “Training starts tomorrow.”
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Chapter notes: The first few chapters, I think 1 - 10, have been edited so that the Hokage is no longer the Sandaime, but Tsunade. Nothing else about the story has changed. ^^
Chapter end notes: Ishihako: Stone Box