Red Riot - Chapter 3 - The red threads (Patreon)

The Kaguya hit the ground and everyone in the room stopped what they were doing to stare at me. I had a few seconds to feel shame for my act. Oh, how they would sing of this day, surely a saga worthy of the Geisha. Of how the mighty warrior Matsu felled a child.

This was supposed to be how I made things better?

The evaluating stares made me pause in offering my hand to the girl as she stared up at me as if she’d never seen something like me before. Perhaps no one her age had ever struck her like that?

Then a snarl overtook her, and I stepped back as she surged from the ground to tackle me. The fight became a brawl as she rolled me over and over, a growl emanating from her throat. I saw her open her mouth wide and any thoughts of letting things calm down vanished as I understood that she was going to bite me.

My fist rocketed into the side of her head and she broke off the attempt. I followed up by punching her in the throat. She gasped and fell to the side. I stood and stepped back to give myself more room. I felt some chakra erratically forming through her and saw her skin splitting at her forearm as white bone emerged.

I gaped at the disgusting view only for her to sweep her arm at me to slash. The only thing that stopped my guts from flopping out was the earlier step back. I had just enough time to let her swing. She hit the air as I slide back. Then I snarled in response and surged into her. My Mind screamed to deny her the weapon. So I trapped her forearm blade close to her with one arm before rocking her head back with a series of blows.

When she took a large step back I leaned back and spun in a tightly controlled arc. My leg swept up and this time I kicked as If I was trying to drive my foot through her head. Her whole body spun once before she collapsed to the ground. I adopted a split stance, ready for her to rise up only for her to remain where she was.

I continued to watch her. I even cycled my chakra to check for a genjutsu.

She didn’t move.

I’d won?

Instantly the shame returned just as the instinct to fight left me. I found myself taking deep breaths and parts of me that I didn’t even know had been hit twinged. I didn’t curl around those spots like a wounded animal though. I couldn’t afford that. I glanced around to see I had everyone’s attention.

The clan kids looked calculating. The shinobi born looked interested. The civilians looked impressed, sickened, or hungry in the case of the small boy I had taken special note of before.

A whistle of appreciation cut through my inspection.

“Wow,” said a boy with a face that I could tell would one day be called handsome. His words were praising but his drawl made it sound like I’d just done a neat trick, like a trained monkey at a circus. He glanced around. “Did anyone want to claim their dog before he puts it down?”

A few of the Karatachi tittered at his joke. I instantly grew to dislike him more.

The girl was a brute. An honest, dumb bully. She’d come at me straight and tell me she hated me to my face. I knew as much from the fight and the few seconds of interaction I’d had with her.

This boy. He’d slip a poison into my water and watch me squirm for days before offering me another poison to make the first last while calling it an antidote. There was a saying in kiri to watch out for the dagger shark when fishing.

If it caught you, it wouldn’t kill you, it would toy with you.

I watched him as he made a show of looking around.

He did it like a bird that was looking for a shiny object. The Hozuki clan kids met his gaze with flat uninterested expressions. “What’s this?” he said. “No one’s claiming her? Guess she’s a stray!”

He smiled at me like I imagined a noble would smile at a favoured servant. He made a shooing gesture. “Throw her outside with the other strays.”

I huffed at his antics and leaned down, rolling her into the recovery position with one of her arms pillowing her head. I put a hand to her mouth and felt her breathing, saw the rise and fall of her chest. I saw the arm bone dagger she’d formed from her ulna retract slowly until only a small cut was left. Even as I watched, it scabbed over and the skin shifted.

Minor regeneration? It would make sense that the Kaguya’s bloodline limit didn’t leave them riddled with weaknesses. It would also have to avoid drawing calcium. That would mean chakra interactions with her body. She’d grow to be very strong physically I had no doubt, at the very least she’d be hard… or harder to put down.

But I already knew of the Kaguya berserkers. Both from my prior life’s knowledge and rumours that had trickled into the Okiya. I stood up, returning to my seat and leaving her where she lay. I didn’t have a blanket to keep her warm. The exposure to cold wasn’t what I was worried about right now. She was a young girl in a room full of future killers. I righted the desks we’d apparently banged into during our tussle and sat in the chair by the window.

“Hey! I’m talking to you! Don’t ignore me!” said the Terumi boy.

I didn’t glance back, that would just be acknowledging him. Not that I needed to as the Hozuki clan kids began to hoot and call out at how stupid he looked. Instead of focusing on them, I could tell he was glaring harder at me, blaming me for not ‘falling into line’ as it were.

I glanced down at the slumbering girl. With her brutish actions, I’d just been forced to flip the table on any chances of ever staying under the radar. Now, because I’d not backed down against her, everyone knew I could fight. Fight well enough to lay out a Kaguya.

I’d also, by ignoring him, pissed off the Terumi which meant the Karatachi would also be hostile. The Hozuki would think me amusing, which meant I might be tolerated by them but they’d just as easily throw me into a shark pit I had no doubts.

Rei tentatively sat next to me. Her eyes darting down to the slumbering girl between our desks, then back to the small verbal argument breaking out behind us.

“Thank you,” she said earnestly.

I rubbed my temples giving action to my feelings of frustration. “Don’t mention it.” I found myself meaning the words more literally than I ever had before. Rei merely smiled at me in a clueless manner that let me know she only thought I was being humble. This girl… she was going to be troublesome, I could tell.

Despite the ongoing drama behind us, nothing else happened of note until Instructor Tenpora marched in. His eyes swept the room only to stop on the still slumbering Kaguya girl. I was actually growing a bit worried for her as I had thought typical knock out hits only resulted in momentary loss of consciousness. He snorted and flicked his hands into a single-hand seal before spitting out a glob of water.

Horse, I thought to myself as I tried to feel the way his chakra had shifted and surged through his coils. The waterbulletl that formed up was fast to form and fast to cross the space between Tenpora and the still downed Kaguya girl. It was slower than a kunai though. The water made her twitch and sit up. She did so with a jolt but had to blink like an owl as she took in the room.

“Up sleeping beauty!” barked Tenpora causing her to snap upwards groggily. “Get in your seat! You’re a student and you shouldn’t be sleeping on the floor! I don’t care for your reasons! If you’re tired then sleep somewhere else! Anywhere else! If you think you’re too good for this class then by all means! Prove me wrong and pass the tests we keep for the end-of-year students! Pass those and we will advance you!”

The civilians perked up at that in interest. I could almost see them thinking that such a thing would be good in their reckoning. If this was any other academy of performance-based task perhaps. It would also set you up for the ultimate failure when the bill came due. Fighting against students a year older meant people more grown, more developed and more experienced. If you repeated this for the third, and final year you may as well cut your leg and jump in shark-filled water.

You’d have better odds.

The Kaguya turned, in doing so her face caught the light for a moment in the windows and I saw something I hadn’t expected to see. She saw my surprise and scowled. Her hands met for a few quick handseals. Dog, boar, ram, I noted. I felt her chakra flicker and her expression and appearance adjusted slightly. Now she looked like a leering highborn that wouldn’t give a thought to putting rabble down.

She stomped back to her desk and sat in it sullenly.

I stayed eyes ahead, not wanting to look back. She’d already hidden the bags under her eyes.

The redness of her eyes.

The bruising around her throat.

This wasn’t what I was expecting to learn when I came to the academy today. How many shinobi had noticed it? Had they cared?

“Today’s lesson is on working your chakra through your coils! There are times when you want to be fast and make it flow as fast as possible and times when you will want it slow!” He slammed a fist against the blackboard.

“Why are we doing this?” he shouted just as I felt a genjutsu sweep through us.

And the question is accompanied by an answer, I thought. I pulsed my chakra and found my hand sweeping forward to snatch a kunai hurled at my desk. Tenpora’s gaze was on me.

“For breaking Genjutsu,” I said taking the easy option. My words and actions caused a number of students to stiffen as they realised that something had happened right under their noses. I felt a number of them pulse their chakra. Tenpora snorted and flicked a kunai to another student’s desk. They flubbed the catch but didn’t flub it in a way that would result in blood. The thunk of the kunai hitting their desk echoed though and I had to pulse my chakra to get rid of another genjutsu.

That had been extremely subtle. I hadn’t felt Tenpora… Oh, the other instructors were apparently nearby. Wonderful. The rest of the lesson passed with the knowledge that slower-moving chakra was harder to detect. This was said by a very smug-sounding Hozuki and I had to ponder if they hadn’t found the other instructors. Where were they hiding?

Slower moving chakra was also better for learning new jutsu.

Faster moving chakra was also apparently harder to attach an initial genjutsu onto and also made it easier to bring up well-practised jutsu. From there he ran us through the twelve handseals and showed us how to form them. It was only then that the other two instructors emerged. Geta swung in from outside through a window a few desks in front of myself, and Mizuna dropped her illusion from among the Hozuki to grin at the boy that had been so smug. The boy flinched. The Terumi group all laughed at this.

With all the instructors in the room showing themselves they began to work their way around correcting children on their hand seals as one of them barked at us to form specific patterns.

I’d practised for this with prior training. I could remember some of them and the ladies from the Okiya had been able to discover what a handful of others looked like. So I had something to train with but I had still gone beyond and done finger dexterity and flexibility drills. The Ladies had thought themselves very clever when they’d given me ‘fingering’ drills. Mostly they were cats cradle and learning how to play flutes and ocarinas.

I showed a much slower, more controlled focus than I really needed. Instead of giving the physical part of the task my attention I instead focused on how my chakra flowed through my coils and tried to match it to what I’d felt from Tenpora and the Kaguya girl.

Said girl had taken to scowling at me when we weren't required to be paying attention. I could see her when I looked out the window just as I could feel her stare.

It stayed with me when we moved outside for physical training and I had to watch out for her when we worked through the obstacle course as she went out of her way to try and shove me off the balance beams or to grab me on the loose ropes and drag me down.

Whatever feelings of concern I had found myself having vanished in the face of her obnoxiousness. When she tried to pull me from the ropes she promptly went for a fall in the mud courtesy of my boot to her face. From there it was on. She tried to launch herself at me and I found myself having to dance in precarious positions and either move fast or disrupt her. Other kids wanted to laugh at her antics only for her to typically barrel right through them when they got in her way.

I finished the laps required of me a heaving mess. I cycled my chakra and let it fill my body though and soon I was back up and ready to focus on the fighting style they were going to have us learn for the rest of the week.

The Kaguya girl made sure to stand close so that when I had to go with Instructor Mizuna she was with me. I hated having her at my back but I had to focus on the positives. She was making me learn to be highly aware of my surroundings. I wasn’t just learning to move through obstacles but to move through them with opposition.

Regardless of the girl’s attention. I had no doubt it would change eventually. They’d have to make it harder. Add a new angle or intensity to it. Shinobi weren’t about static training but being able to adapt and overcome.

At least that’s what I told myself.

The afternoon classes ended up being on how the rankings for Shinobi worked. This proved to be a snooze-fest for most of the shinobi-born children as they weren’t even called on for the questions.

I was ‘taught’ about the Kage, Jonin, Chunin, and Genin. But there were also ranks of seniority or skill that played into it. Obviously, an older chunin couldn’t command a Jonin. It didn’t happen. A chunin could be allocated responsibilities which seemed like my old-world military speak for a young lieutenant telling his sergeant to get the squad in line. Typically if two shinobi of the same rank were working with each other the more senior shinobi led unless the younger had more direct experience through some odd turn of events.

“How do shinobi like the Seven swordsmen feature in this?” I said after raising a hand and getting acknowledged by Geta with a scowl and a nod.

My question had all of the shinobi-born sitting up. Geta grunted.

“The Seven Swordsmen are Elite. You basically can’t wield the great swords without at least being chunin but their ranks are always assigned missions specifically to cater to them. They are extremely insular and it is not uncommon for shinobi that try and give them orders to find themselves learning of the error of their ways. Understood?” he said tersely.

I nodded before offering up my hand again meekly. He scowled at me. “What?”

“Are there any other groups that need special consideration?”

“The hunter-nin, which you should only be encountering if you're a cowardly dog!”

I made a show of nodding in thanks. Geta glared at the room and gestured widely, like a mockery of a gracious host greeting an honoured customer. “Any other questions?”

No one else asked any questions.

When the class ended Rei stood and turned toward me. When I gave her a look she shifted back and forth on her feet. “Yes Rei?”

“Thanks again for ear—” I held up a hand and shook my head.

“Don’t,” I said. Then I flicked my hand for her to follow me. “Come on we’ll talk somewhere else.” I led her into the academy and onto the roof that would be ostensibly harder for people to sneak up on us with how open it was. Rei gaped at the expansive space. The mist at this height was slightly less oppressive which also helped my desire to keep our conversation between us for now.

“What did you want to talk about?” I said, prompting her for whatever she’d been about to talk about in the classroom.

Rei glanced around and chewed her lip, unnerved by the mist. “Do we have to do it out here?”

I made a vague gesture with my hand. “Not really no. It’s just easier for me to attempt to discover anyone sneaking up or listening in. I didn’t really know what you were going to talk about and well…” I wasn’t going to outright say I didn’t trust her to not say something she shouldn’t say in public but I certainly left the implication open.

Rei frowned as she chewed her lip in thought. I could almost picture the gears whirring in her mind. Her frown grew and the whirring gears must have continued to pick up speed.

She must have reached a stall out as she shuddered and rubbed her head. She stomped her foot. “That! That right there!” she pointed, her hand shooting right into my face. “Why can’t I ask you things in front of others?” Her lip quivered a little.

I sighed. She was a child after all, this was a more typical reaction. One that if things were so… rough I would expect more people to have. Sadly a shinobi world bent that logic into cheap steel.

“Because there would have been people listening, probing for weaknesses. Everyone in the class would have listened in and gotten a better idea of what level you and I are both at. Sometimes leaving things dubious works as they have to put in the effort to get information.”

I rolled my hand, “For example, when you fled from the Kaguya girl they all realised you would cave. I expect a number of them might try and make you do things in the next few days or even weeks.”

“Why did she kick me out of my seat!?”

“Because she could,” I said neutrally.

“Eh?!” She tilted her head. “But lots of people could?”

“And she wanted to do it so she did. It’s mean but unless you’re willing to fight for it you’ll find yourself kicked around a lot in the academy. You do realise they’re going to have us fighting each other after this week of training forms right?”

Rei searched my face only to wilt like some flower that had been left in the mist. It had become sodden and weak. Rei shifted back and forth. “But… I don’t know how to fight well. I’m not strong…”

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s going to be rough for a lot of people.” I felt my idea from last night settle more firmly into place as I saw Rei struggle with the understanding that she was in for a rough academy. She likely hadn’t considered how that meant years and not just the next few weeks. Still, my plan hopefully would change that.

“How would you like to become strong?” I said, trying and failing not to feel like some great spider weaving a web around this poor girl.

She looked up with hope in her eyes. I smiled just like I’d practised in the mirror at home. It was a perfectly charming smile. She beamed a smile that made me hate myself, “Yes! I want to be stronger! How do I do that?”

“Are you friends with any of the other civilian students?” I asked. Her head bobbed up and down quickly. “Good, talk to them at their homes and see if they’d be interested in meeting up after school to discuss what we’re learning and trianing methods. We can help each other check our forms and more.”

Rei beamed harder at me. Why did I just know she was— “I knew you were nicer than you seemed! You helped me yesterday and now you’re gonna help all of us civilian-born!”

I huffed at her. “Don’t put your hopes on me like that. It’s a bad habit for a shinobi to have.”

My words fell on deaf ears as she smiled guilelessly.

                                        ______________________________

We broke off after that with Rei promising that she’d talk to a few of her friends into meeting up. It seemed like a simple step but I was planning to use it as leverage for more.

The Okiya hadn’t had a lot to offer me at first glance but I’d been able to leverage that wonderfully. I had the support of a number of women which counted in more ways than even I fully understood.

When I arrived at the academy for my third day of classes it was obvious things had begun to settle enough that some people were starting to play games. When I arrived everyone’s chairs in the Terumi section were defaced with honey and feathers.

Honestly, it struck me as rather humorous. What it didn’t do was calm things down. The Terumi glowered when they arrived and a bunch of them stole chairs from the people that had yet to arrive.

Whoever had done it had done just enough of the kids though that they had to take at least three or four other kids would need to be confronted. The Terumi weren’t going to steal from the Hozuki who were all but daring them to try. Which left some of the shinobi born, and the early arrivals from the civilians.

One girl locked eyes with me. I stared her down radiating my willingness to throw down if she tried something. Rei had dodged a kunai by not turning up early enough so her chair had already been stolen but I had no doubt she would have been the first picked off. I’d need to address that with her. I didn’t want her to expect me to save her. It would be nice but it would also be inviting them to attack her as a weak spot of mine.

I resolved myself to give her tough love in the hopes that she could stand on her own… eventually.

The clan kid scoffed but turned his attention to other kids. Those kids had seen me give the other boy pause however and soon there was a scuffle breaking out as kids scrambled and fought over chairs. In reality, they were only fighting over pride. Also the perception of strength.

Someone shoved a pair of fighters away from them and have them ramming into a seated Yuki clan girl. One of the Hozuki tried to demand something only for another shout to break out.

Then the door opened and Tenpora marched in with a stack of papers under his arm and a mug of something in the other. He gave the room at large a look and he sniffed at the discord.

“Well this is just peachy,” he said in a tone that was as frosty as a Yuki thrown kunai. Everyone stopped to see what his reaction was.

“Got a lot of energy today hmmmm?”

Rei scurried into the room only to pause when the class glanced at her. Tenpora ignored her.

“Unacceptable! You punks have been damaging the property of the village! You might think you’re hot shit but you’re not! Not until you’ve got one of  these do you count for anything!” He pointed at his headband. Then his fingers lanced out. “You, you, you—” He continued to point out any people that had been obviously fighting. When he was done he shot his hand towards the training grounds.

“Get out there and do twenty laps all of you! Mizuna will be watching you! Go! If you’re not done by the time class starts you will be disciplined!” he roared.

The civilians scampered. The Terumi and Karatachi kids straightened up. “You can’t be serious!” one said.

Tenpora advanced on the boy before scruffing him by the neck and hurling him out an open window. “GO!” he bellowed. They got gone.

Rei who was still standing in the doorway had people rush past her. She swallowed then walked up to her desk only to find a stray chair to sit in.

“What was that about?” she whispered.

“Clan spat playing out,” I said eyeing the pleased Hozuki kids lounging in the back of the room. “You got lucky that you weren’t here for it. They’d have been all over you.”

She pouted. “Really?”

I nodded. “We’re going to have to get you stronger and more willing to fight people when they step up to you.”

“Oh,” she squirmed. “Can’t I just not? Be like a supporter for them?”

I sniffed. “I don’t think that’s an option,” I said surprised at how soft she was being. Surely she couldn't be that sheltered? I decided to hold off on talking any further and instead dropped the conversation with, “Still good for this afternoon?”

“Uhuh! They’re looking forward to it!” she chirped.

I huffed at her and settled in for the day’s lesson. It ended up being on who our enemies were and why they were bad. It mostly boiled down to propaganda such as them wanting to kill us all, enslave us, carry off our women and children and plunder us.

The Leaf were considered pretty bad but I noted how much scorn was heaped onto the Uzumaki clan. When he mentioned the crimson red hair as a common trait of Uzumaki clansmen more than a few people perked up and glanced in my direction. Including Rei and the Kaguya girl. I started having concerns that I should have cut it but that wouldn’t do anything now apart from annoying the madam of the Okiya. I held my disinterested expression and tried to convey ‘oh, that’s mildly interesting’, but not react in any way.

I didn’t doubt that some of these kids would be able to take my living arrangements and come to the same conclusion I had. Thankfully there wasn’t a common consensus on the Uzumaki all having large chakra reserves. That might have been a trait propagated by fans from my past life with examples being, Naruto, Kushina, Karin, and Nagato. Three of them were all powerful shinobi, with two being jinchuriki. I had no doubt that played a big role. Also, Nagato had the Rinnegan which… might have actually happened now.

Huh, I hadn’t thought about how being six during the second shinobi war meant I was roughly of an age with Nagato… Damn, I’d have to add that to my notes later.

When we were halfway through the lecture the children that had been fighting limped in. Many of them bruised. Geta and Mizuna came in after them and stood in the doorway, glowering at everyone. It seemed they’d carried through on their threats of not being in your seats at the start of class resulting in being treated like miniature deserters. It hadn’t mattered if you were a clan kid or not.

Everyone claimed their seats, but the Hozuki looked perturbed as much as they did pleased with themselves. They obviously hadn’t thought the Terumi kids would get the same treatment. And if the Terumi got treated that way… would they do the same… to them?

I could see the smarter kids coming to a conclusion they didn’t like.

Tenpora stopped in his lecture and grinned. “I can see that some of you are starting to think things through.” He swept his gaze across the classroom. “If any of you decide to play your little games in here don’t touch the furniture. It’s currently worth more than any of you maggots. Don’t disrupt the lessons and don’t try to desert. You’re here until some of you become shinobi…” that sounded so much more ominous if you knew what they had planned for us.

I swept the room. There would be a lot of us that wouldn’t be making it… I licked my lips and reaffirmed my plan.

It wasn’t much of one but a study group where we shared insight and trianing methods hopefully would be a small multiplier that would grow into something more.

One boy hesitantly spoke up, “But you throw kunai into the desks all the time.”

Tenpora adjusted his headband. “We’re worth something.,” he said.

I went through the lessons for the rest of the day with as much focus as I could. When it came time to work through the obstacle course the Kaguya girl wasn’t as single-minded as she had been. I didn’t drop my guard despite this. I tried to showcase attempts at using chakra control that I could already do. But I wanted to show some improvement even if only slight from Instructor Tenpora’s gift of a chakra control technique.

We went through the same forms and the next class passed without incident. When it wrapped up I walked out but made my way to the roof once more. I arrived and climbed up onto the roof of the stairway which would let me look out from a higher vantage point.

When Rei showed up she did so with five other kids. One other girl and four boys, one of whom was the boy that had tried to rally others. He’d stood up tall while obviously being injured. He had a proud look and hair that was combed to the side, unlike that first day. He had a cared-for look that made me think his family were well-off merchants.

He’d have connections then.

“Alright Rei, we’re up on the roof? Where’s this Matsu kid?” said the dark-haired boy.

I crouched on the edge and tilted my head. Had none of them looked up on the way through the door? I glanced around myself furtively. It felt like too much of a good thing to not have someone else stalking me right now. I didn’t notice anyone but the ever-present mist made me shudder for a moment. It was tough to know with any authority if you weren’t being watched…

“He’ll be here!” defended Rei loyally.

I decided to not try and see how patient they were or to pull a Kakashi and be cool and laid back. I coughed pointedly. The kids snapped up to look at me. I raised an eyebrow at them. “None of you checked your surroundings… did you?” I said, causing them to shuffle.

The boy stared up at me. “Well… we’re outside class so…”

I raised a hand and waved it back and forth. “You need to stop thinking like that. It’s a bad habit for someone trying to be a shinobi to have.”

He opened his mouth before shutting it. I frowned. Had he been about to say no for some reason? That… didn’t make any sense but then again I was extrapolating with very little information. I gestured at them. “You’re all civilian-born like me right?” I said.

All of them, apart from the dark-haired boy, nodded slowly. “You’re civilian?” asked the other girl.

I nodded. “Yeah, I just got a heads up earlier about needing to train up and to watch out for certain tricks…” I waved my hand through the mist in front of myself. “Didn’t tell me anything about this though…”

The kids all frowned. “What do you mean?” said the dark-haired boy.

I waved my hand through the mist again. “None of you noticed that it’s a persistent Genjutsu? Well keep an eye out for when you leave the shinobi quarter and you’ll notice that the mist drops away. Most of Kiri isn’t shrouded like this except for the shinobi part. If you pay attention you can notice the chakra affecting you but you almost need to be constantly cycling your chakra in different ways or you need to get used to it.”

“That…” Rei bit her lip. “I hadn’t noticed.”

I nodded at her. “It took me a bit to work out but just like the class, there’s a lot that’s not being explicitly said. Some of the lessons are quiet and will pass without notice if you’re not aware. I’m not getting all of them that’s for sure. But that’s something we,” I made a gesture of waving my hand at the group, including myself as I did so. “Might be able to work on.”

“How so?” said the boy.

I smiled. “We’re going to try working together, pool our resources, share our observations and trianing tricks. Spar together if we can.” I pointed down to where the classroom was. “Not all of the shinobi or clan kids work together. I doubt anything is really shared except for if they’re in the same clan. That’s still an advantage they have. That… and they have generations of knowledge to work with.”

I glanced around. “Any of you got anything like that?”

They shook their heads. I grunted. “Yeah, same. So what I’m proposing is we group up. Get the other kids that are like us working together as much as we can. More people to train with means the wider group and better we can get. If we have some things that might help or observations even. Like yesterday’s class. How many of you realised we needed to be looking for Instructor Geta and Mizuna beforehand? Or during today’s lesson where they used senbon instead of kunai? What if those become proper shuriken? We’ll need to knock them off course instead of grabbing them, neh? “ I said with a tilt of my head. The kids looked thoughtful.

The dark-haired boy sniffed. “And you’re just going to share resources with us? What do you get out of this?”

I tilted my head to the side. “Ever tried teaching someone else something before? It usually results in you getting better along with the other person. Also, we need sparring partners badly. You heard Tenpora, we’re going to be fighting others after the week is up. Do you think a week’s training in taijutsu is going to be enough?

The kids grumbled a no. I smiled at them. “Well, now you’re seeing how much a small thing like group up will change things for the better for us.” I gestured around the roof.

“Tricks and traps or ambushes like I just pulled on you? I thought of this, but someone else might have thought of something else. More people, more observations and different tricks to learn of. See what I’m talking about?”

They nodded perking up.

I flicked my wrist. A scroll appeared in it, those ‘fingering’ drills did produce more than laughter for the ladies after all. “Also I have something to sweeten the pot now.” I waggled it. “This is a chakra control technique. Something a few of you have been struggling with. How much easier will things be when you can consciously control your chakra?”

They looked at the scroll like a dog looks at a treat. I waved it left and they tracked it. I smiled and hopped down putting myself on their level. “So… who wants to group up?” I held up the scroll and smiled winningly.

The dark-haired boy nodded. “I’m Kizan.”

And the first step in many was taken. The other kids were all low or middle-income civilians but that didn’t stop them from being able to read the scroll and instantly start practising it with the insights written into it. Kizan was no less eager and I let them try it out for twenty minutes before I approached Kizan.

“Hey… you’re pretty well off yeah? Parents are merchants or something else?”

“They’re spice traders with my eldest brother!” he said proudly.

I nodded at him. “Nice… think they can get things like hot spices in powders?” I said. And just like that, I continued to weave a web that I sat in the middle of. Much like the Okiya ladies I had some kids listening out or asking their parents to listen out for certain scraps or snippets of information that we then pooled together.

It was a small thing but it held the glimmers of promise for future payout. The kids understood this and felt proud that they were able to contribute to this forming network.

I smiled and told them of my plans to grow the group more. I then grinned at them, “we should have a rule as well not to talk to this with anyone else. If anyone asks you just say this is for you. You can invite them in but be vague about it from now on yeah? No talking bout … our club,” I said with a smile. It wasn’t exactly ‘fight club’ but… maybe one day.

The kids grinned at me. Kizan smirked handsomely. “It’ll make good practice for when we become shinobi.” He held a finger up to his lips.

I copied him then glanced around. “Practise that tonight. I’m going to write up some observations of our class so far.” I drummed my fingers on my thigh. “There’s only thirty-two of us yeah?” that didn’t make sense. There must be other classes either in this building… or somewhere else? Was there only one academy?

The kids all pursed their lips. I felt like that number had fluctuated but I wasn’t sure how. I didn’t have firm numbers from the first day nor could I with how things had been on the second. Today’s class had started off poorly to get a coherent number. I frowned. “That’s something we should know and be aware of… We’ve met three instructors… are there any more?”

That got all the kids stiffening and glancing around.

We broke off from there with some of the kids promising to bring someone else to the club in future.

I left the academy feeling pretty good. I hadn’t gotten into another brawl and I had made progress with my plan. Now I just had to see what I could snare with it. It would be a fragile thing but then again that was my position right now.

I got home to the Okiya and once more reported to the Madam. But before I gave the report I searched her face. She saw me doing so.

“Counting me wrinkles boy?” she said with a growl.

“Just… they had the instructors assume another face… how do I know you’re who I think you are?”

She blinked at that before nodding her head. “Hmmm a wise precaution… keep your head on like that boy. And I was there when you’re mother passed boy so it wounds me to be questioned like that…and yet…” she rubbed her chin for a while in thought.

She eventually snapped her fingers causing a clack more than click. “I was the one with you and the doctor that decided to put you on this route.”

I nodded and she grunted. “For future reference pay attention to my rings.” she tapped her fingers together and they clicked. “I change them out each day… let's see if you can work out my patt—”

“You wear rubies on the first day of the month, then sapphires, then emeralds before mixing and matching on the fourth. On the fifth—” I laid out my observations to her and she sniffed.

“Well good to see you have been paying attention and applying those games.” She gave me a sweet and nodded before asking me to continue with my observations of the class.

I skipped the ‘club’ formation and instead mentioned I had made some friends I might train with on occasion.

She grunted at that and said “Good,” but nothing more.

When I outlined my thoughts on writing some profiles she nodded again. “Learn who you’re with day in and day out boy. What makes them tick? But try to take it a step further and match things up.” She grinned at me. “Set yourself up to rule that class by the time you graduate!”

I snorted. “Might be tough to do considering that Kaguya girl.”

“Bah, she is probably just crushing on you!”

I raised an eyebrow. “Strange way to show it.”

“Shinobi are strange people!” she cackled at her joke before waving it off. “Run along now, thank you for entertaining a woman’s curiosity. I won’t keep asking but it does my heart well to see you coming back from class well unlike some of those other whelps.”

I huffed a laugh and headed for the yard where I worked through my forms. Practised my chakra control. Gossiped with the ladies of the house and then wrote down some notes.

Today had been progress.

I wasn’t surprised when tomorrow, therefore, started with a setback. Namely in the form of the Kaguya girl meeting me in the doorway. She glowered at me and let others pass her but when I approached she dropped into a fighting stance.

“Really?” I said in annoyance.

“You cheap-shotted me!” she spat.

I grimaced. “We’re shinobi, is there such a thing?”

She launched herself at me and I had to jump to the side. This time I didn’t have the advantage of surprise as she had so eloquently pointed out. She pursued and I found myself retreating constantly. Not something I wanted to do. I tried pivoting into a warding off strike only for her to bull through the hit and to slam a punch into me that had me seeing stars.

She struck me over and over. “Not so tough now are you!” she snarled. I turtles up and weathered the blows but I could feel an ache building already. She was stronger than me. More skilled. I decided to do something stupid again and pushed into her swatting her arms up and out before punching both hands into her diaphragm. She woofed and was launched back before tripping. She rolled over herself and up to her feet. Then she growled like a beast as a single bone emerged from her forearm.

“Oh damn, gross!” I said. She growled louder at me then launched herself forward. I ducked back and forth away from her swipes. Her other hand caught me though and she raised her blade threateningly. I stepped in and tangled our feet causing us to stumble. I knocked her blade arm up and out.

She locked her other arm around mine and wrenched. I felt something snap and I snarled, launching my head into her nose. She tucked her head and we both reeled from the hit as our foreheads collided. I rolled up and away and found my right arm now had a lump. I’d seen breaks like this before.

She’d somehow snapped my arm just now. I cursed and prepared to run, realising fully how outclassed I was without the element of surprise. She bared her teeth at me only for a form to shunshin between us. Instructor Tenpora glowered at us both.

“Matsu, Himeko! When I said you would fight next week I said you would fight next week! Damn brats! Cool yourselves down from being so eager to beat on each other!” he barked.

‘Himeko’ glowered as she backed off. I cradled my arm and she sniffed. “Alright… but I don’t have to wait now. I know he just got lucky.” She glanced up at the classroom. “And so do the…” She scowled when she realised her ‘plan’ hadn’t accounted for the mist obscuring us.

Tenpora snorted. “Himeko, run the obstacle course. Matsu..” He glanced at me and sighed. “Fuck, she got you good… let’s get you to Minazawa-sensei before class otherwise you’re going to be useless.” He grabbed me by the collar and a second later we vanished.

We appeared in front of a much nicer building that was clearly marked as a doctor’s business. Tenpora marched us up to the door and entered. A woman glanced up in green scrubs but I noted the hitae-ate on her bicep. “I thought you didn’t throw them into the shark pit until after the first week?” she asked Tenpora.

“This year’s intake are all feisty shits,” he said. “Patch this one up before class. Otherwise, he’ll be useless,’ he said gruffly.

The woman tilted her head. “What makes him so special to receive care?”

“Civie that saw through the genjutsu on the first day. Got a chance,” he said gruffly.

The woman nodded with a hum. Then she turned to me and waved her hand. “Well let me see it then.” I offered up my arm and she sniffed lifting my sleeve up. “Yup it’s broken. Hold it there for a second—” pain lanced through me as she tugged and jerked it into place. I clenched my teeth and felt tears filll my eyes.

“Huh, you didn’t cry out? Good, for a second there I thought you’d faint.”

I growled tightly through my teeth.

She snickered. “Hang tight I’m going to mend the bone and muscles now.” She formed a clumsy ox that looked slightly wrong before her hands moved into a tiger seal.

I felt her chakra move and shift in a heavier yin alignment before she laid her hand on my arm and coaxed my joint to heal. I watched her numbly, taking in everything that I could. When she was done she poked me where the break should have been.

“There! All good!” She grinned. “Hmmm, you’re in awe of this cool sensei yeah?”

I nodded dumbly. And she puffed out her chest. I barely registered Tenpora telling the woman to take the money from the academy fund for this as we departed.  We returned to call with a shunshin. I barely registered how Tenpora’s chakra felt.

For the rest of the day, I had to hold off the giant smile that wanted to break out over my features.

When I met up with the group I’d formed I had to work at not being too excited. When I got home I asked for a live fish later. I only allowed myself the gigantic smile as I sat in my own small bedroom.

It was weird to think I had regretted kicking Himeko Kaguya and getting on her bad side. Now I wanted to do it again while giving her flowers. I really would be sending the wrong signals if I did that, however.

Still, I found myself thinking of all the options that made themselves available with the knowledge of this particular jutsu.

So many doors had just opened for me.

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A.N. And that’s the chapter for Red Riot!

Pieces are starting to click into place for Matsu. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!