บท 18: Fair
Visibly hearing myself swallow, I slowly walk up to spiral covered door. It's been a while, but I could already tell Kushina had added a few painted spirals around the frame. Unlike Mito, who painted the central spiral, Kushina tends to add flairs to the beginning of almost anything she writes or draws. Glancing at the familiar bed of flowers, I notice the distinct lack of vitality. I'm not sure which flowers they are, but the reds have started to wilt. Feeling the smooth and compact grain of natural bamboo, I bit my lower lip. I don't know what it is, but I've never been good at verbally comforting people. I distinctly remember telling my coworker it never gets better after he lost his wife due to a complication during birth. Although I'm sure I was right, I should have just offered some empty condolences. Who knew he'd try to hang himself after I left?
Taking a deep breath in, I knock on the door. Instead of the bland three knocks you're expected to use for formal occasions, courtesy of kunoichi classes, I use a short but upbeat approach with six knocks. Got to start happy right? Glancing at my mini sundial, I lazily calculate the time I can spend here. Since both of us are expected at noon, we should have close to two hours left. Plenty of time to turn any frown upside down right?
Nervously waiting for the door to open, I flinch as it violently flies open. Ignoring the groaning hinge, I stare at a furious Tsunade. With her teal sweater disheveled and some kind of navy jogger, she frowns down at me. It's times like these that I remember that I'm still a bite-sized terrorist in training. Squinting at me, she waves her hand around my face before roughly grabbing my chin. Pulling me closer, she tilts my face up and stares into my eyes with her own. Even now, with red rims, irises quivering, and slightly darker than I remember, her eyes are stunning. Tilting her head slightly to the side, she scrutinizes my face. Noticing the slight blush on her cheeks, I sniff the air and find the unmistakable smell of alcohol.
Evidently recognizing me, she brings me closer before carrying me under her arm and walking back into the home. Glancing back, I catch the door closing itself behind us. This house never stops amazing me, but that's okay. I'll make something just as amazing for myself. Carrying me like a large scroll, she takes me into Kushina's room. seeing Mito look over her shoulder as she pats a crying Kushina, I realize I have yet to say anything. Looking back at Kushina's crying form, I feel my stomach churn. What can I even say? 'Hi! I just wanted to ask if you're okay after losing your family and village?' Probably not anything I can say would be helpful right now. Walking to the edge of the bed, she drops me next to Kushina before crawling onto the mattress herself and sitting against the far wall.
Grabbing a bottle off the window ledge, she tilts her head back and continues drinking. Reading the label I sigh. Shochu or Japanese distilled liquor. In layman's terms, slightly more alcohol content than sake. Why do I know? There's a liquor store near the orphanage and I happen to walk by almost every day. Turning around, I find Kushina watching me with teary eyes. Wiping one of her tears off, I give her a wry smile, "Hey."
Lips quivering, she tries to smile but devolves into sobs. The last thing I see is her start to pout before she glomps onto me and starts bawling. Crying into my shirt, she wraps me in a loose hug. Rubbing her back, I glance at Mito. Still unnaturally beautiful for her age, but her sleep-deprived eyes clearly showed her mental state. The real question is if she knew this was going to happen. She doesn't look like she cried recently, but she definitely knew as it happened.
Feeling the dampness bleeding through my shirt, I shift her head towards my shoulder. Gently stroking her head, I fall into a lull. With tensions releasing and my nerves finally relaxing, I close my eyes as someone starts to hum.
******
Feeling someone shaking me, I groan in protest. It's much too early to get up. It's too comfy to move. Continually ignoring the feeling until someone lifts me up into a sitting position, I drowsily try to rub my eyes. It's not every day that I fall into such a nice sleep you know? Wrinkling my nose in annoyance, I tug at my pinned right arm before opting to use my left. Squinting at the offending sunlight, I find Mito smiling down at me. Glancing down, I find Kushina gently gnawing on my shoulder. Correction, she's smiling at us.
Running my hand through my hair, I slowly push myself back against the headboard, bringing a determined redhead with me. Seeing Tsunade passed out, cradling another bottle of alcohol, I sigh. Things just aren't going well for this family today. Shaking Kushina awake with Mito, I suddenly smell something I haven't had in a while. Sniffing again, I smirk. It's grilled fish. Probably with some egg side dish, some vegetables, rice and maybe a soup. That's about as traditional as breakfast gets.
Rubbing my wet shoulder, I start moving my right arm, trying to get the blood flowing again. Mumbling into her own hair, Kushina groggily stretches as Mito pats her head. "Get ready quickly now, Breakfast will be done in a few minutes and both of you have to be on your way in thirty minutes" she whispers. For all her smiling, her tone just doesn't have the same reassurance. Nodding, both of us start getting out of bed. "I'll be there in five minutes Obaachan 'ttebane" Kushina drawls as she pads into the bathroom.
Glancing at the hallway, I hesitate between waiting and following Mito. Listening to the sounds of water hitting tile, I take a breath and escape to the kitchen. I'll just have to be around for when she needs me. Sitting at the table, opposite from the matron, say my thanks for the meal and start pushing it down. It's not that it isn't delicious. No, It's amazing. Just like every other time I've eaten with the Uzumaki's. The atmosphere is just too tense. Like clockwork, I work on the grilled fish before moving on to the vegetables, rice, and soup. Holding the rice bowl, I clean out the last grains. Setting it down, I gather the dishes and take them to the sink. Watching an array of Fuinjustu arrange the dishes and start the cleaning process, I try distracting myself.
The best thing to do when overwhelmed is to muddle your way through. Clear your mind and list the things that I still have to do. Focusing on the chakra inside, I shift small amounts to my hands. Getting the chakra to coat my hands is easy, but doing two different things isn't possible yet. Why is that? Simple, doing two different things is the same as true multitasking. Not just switching between two streams of thought but running them simultaneously. How do you overcome this? Either thinking faster or imagining it as one action rather than two different ones. Imagining a sword and shield is easy, just mold chakra and physical objects into a specific shape and use them manually.
Stepping aside, I lean against the counter to let Kushina add her dishes to the sink. The impossible part would be to move the shield and sword at the same time with unsynchronized purposes. All of this leads back to having an autonomous stream of thought to assist. Something that has yet to be achieved. Another project ill have to work on in the future, but what do I need right now? I did succeed in my scouting technique so perfecting it through practice is at the top. Chakra string manipulation is also very versatile so that can be a close second. After that, I need basic survival skills. Let's not be known as the kunoichi that died due to hypothermia or starvation in the woods. Yes, I'm training to murder, but plans always break. Who knows when I'll be camping in enemy territory without food?
Feeling a nudge, I find Kushina with her hands clasped and head down leaning next to me. Ignoring that I'm probably just as small and that this is a terrible moment, she does look pretty cute when she's sad. Smiling, I pull her into a side hug, "Look, I don't really know what you're going through, but I'll always be right next to you. I can't tell you everything will be okay, but you can't get rid of me that easily. For now, just focus on what needs to be done, and eventually, you'll accept it. You'll never forget, and you shouldn't try to, but you still need to make everyone proud right?"
Hearing her start sniffling again, I pull her towards Mito. Mito herself was just calmly watching us with a smile. Embracing Kushina, she pats her head, "You know? If I didn't know any better, I would say that the royal Uzumaki bloodline would end with you with how close you two are." Laughing in that subdued way old people do, she bends down and looks Kushina in the eye, "You trust me right?" Getting a nod, she pulls Kushina into another hug, "Then listen to me now, everything will be fine. The world keeps moving, so we have to as well. Our family isn't gone, they're just watching from the pure lands. You know what that means right? Just like your father used to cheer you on in Uzu, everyone will cheer you on, so do your best."
Getting another nod, the matron wipes Kushina's tears away before standing back up, "Now, both of you have an important day at the academy today. If you both do well, I'll make your favorite tonight. How about that?" Doing her best to smile, Kushina gives a slight nod before wiping her eyes again. Feeling like a cinematic had finished, I run my fingers through my hair. Manipulation skills come with age and experience.
******
Running to the academy had been uneventful for the most part. Kushina cried a bit when we parted to different classes, but it's not like I can just take my exam with her right? Sitting next to the same annoying classmates, ignoring the same snot-nosed clan kids, and pretending like I wasn't going to pull any stunts. As the bell rings, the second proctor closes the door and locks it to prevent late entry. One proctor holds exam papers and the other stands behind a desk with a thinner envelope, presumably answer sheets. Seeing him set the answers on the desk, I get an idea. Slowly creating anchors to the proctor's table, I create a connection to the desk and more importantly, said answer sheets. Slowly filling one of the sheets with my chakra, I wait for the proctors to start passing the exam papers out.
After splitting the exams and versions between themselves, the proctors split the room to make it more efficient. After a brief check for cheating materials, they give you the test and move on. Simple right? As the proctor approaches my aisle-side neighbor, I slowly transform one of the answer sheets into a blank piece of paper. Pumping in enough chakra to keep it transformed, I make eye contact with my proctor, "Can I also have a piece of scratch paper? I tend to be a visual learner when it comes to math." Scratching his chin, he shrugs, "Hey, Tetsu. You got any blank paper?"
Giving my proctor an annoyed look he points at the envelope, "All I was given is in the envelope. If it's there then she can have it. If not, then we can't give any." Giving me a tired glare, I smile right back, "I really appreciate it, I do need it." Clicking his tongue, he fast walks to the envelope and checks. Just like I planned, he finds the blank piece of paper and takes it out. Checking again, he gives me a funny look. Walking back, he slides it to me with an exam sheet, "Looks like you're lucky today." Smirking, I slide the answers under the exam. Easy as pie. Now to find out if the versions have different questions or are rearranged.
Moving on to the neighbor to my left, he slides an exam over only to be held up again. "How come she gets a blank sheet of paper" my neighbor whines. Opting to ignore him, I focus on my nails and how much I really need to work on them. Squinting as the proctor tries to squeeze back into the aisle, I sigh in relief.
Just when I thought I pulled off the perfect heist, a grubby hand slides my exam away and grabs at my answer sheet. Smacking the hand away, I glare at him only to find him looking between the answers and somewhere behind me. Glancing at the bright green answer sheet, I slowly turn around while trying to cover the answers with the test paper. Seeing a shocked proctor edging back towards me, I pull the answers and test close, "You gave me the answers, that's perfectly fair!"
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heavygreen
heavygreen Not really edited, maybe I'll go over it later. Maybe. Don't bug me to finish on the weekdays though. Especially if it has anything to do EmOtIoNs. Bruh... I just had like 44 hugs to get through it. I doubt you'll get another 100 this weekend so up yours.
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to readers... I'll read comments and stuff from the last chapter later. If you find errors just comment on them and I'll eventually hit them.
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