บท 11: Chapter 11: Job Interview
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"L-Lord Hokage?!"
I nearly damn screamed in surprised as I recognized the intruder. The blond Hokage smiled harmlessly and said, "Sorry for the late arrival, I'm glad I didn't wake you up."
I gulped, what was the Hokage doing here? He was dressed in his Hokage outfit, so this was most certainly Hokage business…
Minato, still sporting the same harmless smile, said, "I'm sorry for coming so late, but I think you were busy today, and so was I this evening."
I nodded slightly, before asking, "To what do I owe this visit, Lord Hokage?"
Minato replied half-jokingly, "I would almost believe I'm bothering you."
"Far from that, it's just that I didn't expect you to come. Tens of people get hurt everyday."
"But not all of them kill an Iwa Spy."
I hummed, "So that's why you are here. I have already answered Itachi's questions."
Minato chuckled, "And some more, I have heard. The poor boy looked more exhausted than after his last S Rank mission when he delivered me his report on you."
"We had a chat, that's all…"
Minato snorted lightly, before saying, "I am not here to ask you about the fight in itself, but rather about you.
"Orphan since practically birth, you spent most of your time training, showing an unusual appeal to becoming a ninja. Two years ago, you joined the academy, and for the last two years you were third in place among your classmates. Did I get anything wrong until now?"
I shook my head, not surprised in the least at the informations he had on me. I expected much more than that actually, so they either hadn't researched much about me, or he was withholding most of what he had on me.
"Now, I have participated in making the academy's program, and I can say for sure that many of the things you showed that night were not part of the program. I also spent quite some time in the library, and it wasn't in any available books either."
I asked, "So you want to ask where I learned what I learned?"
Minato did not reply, but that was pretty much an answer in this case. So I asked, "Could you specify what is it that you think I learned?"
Minato said, "Let's start with those wires then."
I explained, "The basics of using them was taught to us, and I developed on that. We were taught to use the wires as supplement for our Jutsus, such as setting them on fire, but I decided to follow another path. I don't have good chakra reserves, yet I liked the wires as weapons, so I chose to sharpen them and use them to cut."
Minato continued, "You have a surprisingly good mastery over them, but that can be attributed to talent. What about…"
I interrupted him, "Lord Hokage, I mean no disrespect, but please stop beating around the bush and ask your question. Since you are not a woman you may not know, but psychological manipulation makes up most of our grade in Kunoichi classes, and I've been beating records there."
Minato's smile faltered a little, before he asked, "What is it that you think I want to ask then?"
I rolled my eyes and replied, "Stop treating me like a child. Since the beginning of our conversation, while you may have not said it explicitly, you have been hinting at your suspicions of me being a spy of another village, which would be where I learned what I did. But we both know that's bullshit, you only want to pressure me to make me spill the beans on my technique that allowed me to heal. That's the only thing of relative worth I could have."
And that was true, my wire technique was based off the academy and could be developed by anyone, and my Senbonsakura was far from reaching its true potential as all it did was provide a temporary distraction to the Iwa Spy.
Minato remained silent for a moment, and to be honest I was scared, but I showed none of it as it would only go against me. For more than ten seconds, probably the longest ten seconds of my life, we stared at each other, silence, before it was finally broken by the Yondaime.
"It would seem I have made a fool of myself… I apologize for that. Then, tell me, where does this technique come from? How does it work, and would you be willing to gift it to the village? There would be a reward of course."
I smiled, "I have a choice?"
To my surprise, the joke went right over Minato's head and his face turned a little sombre as he said, "I do not know why you would have this impression, but I hope you understand that it is entirely within your choice. If anyone has told you otherwise, they were lying for their own interest."
Although he did not speak of anyone, I could see the shadow of Danzo in his words. That would be his style to create rules for his own interest. To reassure Minato, I said with the same smile, "I was only joking, Lord Hokage. To answer your question, while I am willing to tell you about my technique, I can't hand it over to the village."
"Can't or won't?"
"Can't. Let me explain."
I could almost see Minato fidget on the spot, which almost made me smile. Minato was a damn fine fighter feared worldwide, but he really needed to work on his other aspects as a Hokage.
Granted I was somewhat gifted in understanding others and picking on little things such as corporal language, it was still too easy to read Minato, and he cared way too much about my opinion.
Of course, there was the possibility he was trying to pull me in his good favours, but that was unlikely.
"My healing technique isn't actually really a healing technique, but a training technique. I created it myself by using my own discoveries and the academy's methods as reference. Most of it is my own work though."
I then proceeded to explain to him in detail my technique, although I left some things out. For example, I somewhat lowered the real potency of the technique, and although I mentioned that this was an unfinished technique, I did not speak a word about Natural Energy.
When I was finished, Minato surprisingly sighed, and asked, "May I sit?"
I replied, "I can't really refuse the Hokage."
Minato showed a self depreciating smile and sat at the edge of my bed, before saying, "Chakra Hypersensitivity has always been known as a terrible condition, which crippled many people, yet it led you to create and master such a technique…"
I interrupted, "It only helped a little. I mostly relied on my medical knowledge to create this technique. If not for it, I would have destroyed my body. That's also why I can't gift it to the village. Although someone without Chakra Hypersensitivity could theoretically master it, they would need multiple tries to master it as everyone's meridians are arranged differently, and those tries would be more than enough to ruin their meridians. Besides, it's unfinished."
Minato scratched his hair and suddenly asked out of the blue, "Would you be interested in graduating early, Sukaina?"
I was stumped for a moment, before asking, "In prospects of having me join the Anbu?"
Minato put his hands over his face as he sighed instead of answering, although I guess this was a response in itself, "You impress me, Sukaina."
"Do I? I only killed a spy."
Minato shook his head and said, "It's not about that. You asked whether I wanted you in Anbu. Why did you ask that?"
I hesitated for a moment, before answering truthfully, "Because of the incoming war."
Minato wryly smiled, "Indeed. According to your past matron, you started training when you were only three, when Kumo came for a diplomatic visit, and ended with the Hyuuga Incident. Even back then, you already understood a war was possibly incoming, didn't you? Started training for it."
I corrected, "Against it, Lord Hokage. I started training to protect myself from it, not to excel in it… although I guess it doesn't really make a difference as a ninja, does it?"
"Indeed, it doesn't. But what I said still stands. You impress me, Sukaina. Not because of your talent for combat, but for everything else. Your mentality, if you will."
I smiled and asked, "I'm wondering whether that's a good thing, or a bad one."
It was Minato's turn to roll his eyes, "A good one, of course. So, you haven't answered me. Would you be interested in an early graduation? From what I can see, you are already ready for that promotion. I can also tell you from my own experience that becoming a Genin would allow you to learn much faster than in the academy. To keep with the tradition, all you would have to do would be to learn the Academy's Three, but considering your control over your chakra, that should take a couple of days at best."
I stayed silent for a few seconds, mulling over his words, before looking at him in the eyes and giving him my answer.
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