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myaekingheart · 5 years

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57. Shinobi Guidebook: The Basics of Being a Ninja

read the scarecrow and the bell on ao3

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Rule number one: Never let your guard down. This was the first of many proverbial guidelines Chikara had presented to her young pupils. Their first mission involved escorting a nobleman across the Land of Fire to a small seaside town where he had business. It was a seemingly simple mission but with the Third Great Ninja War roaring outside of Konoha’s walls, any assignment had the potential for danger. It was this fact that Rei kept in the back of her mind always as she prepared her things for the trip.

Hana watched with teary eyes as her daughter closed up her backpack and then sucked in a deep breath. “Please stay safe, sweetheart” she croaked, forcing a smile. “If anything were to happen to you, I’d—”

“Mom” Rei interrupted, “I’m sure I’ll be fine. I mean, what’s the worst that can happen?” It wasn’t until after the question fell from her lips that she realized she never should’ve asked it to begin with. She could see the composure in her mother’s face beginning to slip even further, her mind racing with worst-case scenarios. Rei hugged her tight, bid a brief farewell to her apathetic father, and then met Grandma Teiko at the door.

“Stay safe out there, girl” she said, grasping her granddaughter’s hands tightly. “Remember, this is only the beginning.” She kissed Rei’s forehead and then sent her on her way.

Rei’s eyes darted to the house next door and a grin spread across her lips. She hadn’t had a chance to tell Kakashi yet but she couldn’t wait for when she did. They had started to grow so distant in the years following his father’s death, but his kindness to her still overpowered whatever metamorphosis their relationship had been facing. He believed in her when hardly anyone else did. He encouraged her despite her parents’ protests and assured her that she would be a great ninja. As she made her way to the village gates, she envisioned running up to him and wrapping her arms around him in a big hug, screaming with joy over her accomplishment. He would hug her back and congratulate her, maybe they would even bake a cake together to celebrate, stuffing messy slices into their mouths as they sat by the lake at sunset. They would laugh until their sides hurt and run through the muggy summer air. It would be just like old times. Pure bliss.

Rei was the last of the squad to arrive at the gates, signaling a very disgusted expression from their client. “This is who you’ve been waiting for?” he asked. He leaned down to poke at Rei’s chubby cheeks and assess her outfit. “She’s a child!”

Rei grimaced up at him and swatted his hand away. “I may be a child but I can still kick your butt!” she insisted. If she had known she would be belittled, she likely never would’ve come. Her first mission was certainly getting off to a very bad start.

A chuckle broke past Sekkachi’s lips. “Are you even sure you’re tall enough to reach his butt?” she asked. Rei then turned her glare to her comrade, who appeared seemingly unaffected.

The merchant man shook his head and frowned. “I’m sorry, but I thought I was hiring real shinobi to accompany me, not a group of bickering little girls!”

Chikara crossed her arms and cocked a brow. “I’m sorry but do you have a problem with little girls being far more capable than you?” she asked, a sickening smile touching her lips. The man stammered but no comprehensible words made it past his lips. The group departed, and he said hardly a word for the entire first three hours of the trip. If only the same had been true for everyone.

The issue, as Chikara soon discovered, with travelling alongside three prepubescent girls was that they never shut up. Not only did they never shut up, but they never stopped quarreling, either.

“…and he never even made it past genin—how pathetic is that? I mean, I guess with a fashion sense like that, it only makes sense for you to be a little dense but…” Naru rambled on, as if she knew anything about what she was talking about. “He and his son look exactly the same, and I honestly don’t expect him to get very far as a ninja, either! I mean, if you ask me, I don’t think anyone who can’t use ninjutsu or genjutsu should even be accepted into the academy. Nip in the bud before you get too far down the line! Then they won’t go around thinking they have as good a chance as everyone else to become ANBU level ninja.”

Rei restrained an awkward laugh and nodded. “I mean, I guess if his taijutsu is good enough then there’s a chance but, I mean, I don’t know, I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right!” Naru nodded definitively, “I’m always right.” Sekkachi rubbed her temples and chewed on her lower lip as she listened to her comrade speak. Chikara could see the temperature gauge inside of her rapidly rising. The merchant man looked to each of them expectantly, feeling very out fo place in the audience of this strange encounter. Naru rambled on. “Honestly, I can’t say I’m totally surprised, either. With fashion sense like theirs, it’s no wonder they’re all a little dense. If I didn’t know any better, I’d even question whether or not this kid was gay! I mean, you can’t possibly walk around in a green jumpsuit like that and be totally straight, it’s just impossible.”

For some reason, something about Naru’s words suddenly struck the last nerve in Sekkachi. Her hands felt tingly and her heart rate started to pick up. Every thought and memory and pondering in her mind went haywire. She no longer had control. Fists clenched, she finally snapped. “What makes you think you know anything about it?” she exploded. “Since when are the authority on everyone else in Konoha, huh? As if you know everything! You’re only a genin!”

Naru coolly replied, “Don’t act so superior, Sekkachi. You’re only a genin, too, remember? We all are.”

“Well, I certainly don’t plan on staying that way” Sekkachi growled. She was beginning to pick up the pace, soon growing further and further ahead of the others. “So what if he can only do taijutsu? I was unaware that other people’s abilities affected your existence, Naru. As far as I’m concerned, that doesn’t make him any less of a ninja than anyone else. I bet he could make it all the way into the ANBU on just that alone if he really wanted to. I bet he’d be great. I bet he’d leave everyone else in the dust.”

The blonde smirked and brushed her hair back out of her face. “Statistically speaking, most ninja who can’t do anymore than taijutsu aren’t even considered for the ANBU as far as I’m concerned. I doubt he would get that far even with luck on his side.”

As the two of them bickered back and forth, Rei glanced to each of her comrades with great uncertainty before finally gazing up at her sensei. There was an expression of panic in her eyes and Chikara noticed her digging under her fingernails anxiously. She truly had no choice. She would have to intervene.

“Enough!” she shouted. Her booming voice was enough to shake an entire forest free of its leaves. Naru and Sekkachi paused momentarily, glancing back at her but deep down had no real intention of stopping. Chikara stalked forward and grabbed the two of them by the backs of their shirt collars, pulling them to her side. “I didn’t agree to this just to babysit two whiny brats, you know. If you’re going to act like children, however, then you ought to be treated like children. Keep it up and neither of you will get past genin, either. I’ll send you right back to Konoha with no compass and then you’ll really wish you hadn’t pissed me off.”

Rei’s heart pounded at the thought of it, and she wasn’t even the one in trouble. Still, she was fully aware that they were no longer enveloped in the protective sphere of their village. If they were to be abandoned by their own sensei out in the wilds, they would be labeled as rogue shinobi and likely eaten alive by whatever godawful beasts lurked in the night. They didn’t stand a chance.

Come sunset, they stopped and set up camp for the night in a secluded meadow. Sekkachi started a fire despite protest that it would probably attract enemy-nin to their camp, to which Chikara offered up another morsel of advice.

Rule number two: when engaging in escort missions, it is the only hospitable option to offer a proper meal to guests.

As far as she was concerned, clients were far more fragile than shinobi were and therefore couldn’t handle the same rugged parameters. And so makeshift dinner it was. Naru elected to do the cooking, stirring together basic forage foods to create some sort of mismatched ninja stew. It smelled mildly strange and unnerving, and would likely taste just as much, but at least it was something. Once finished, Naru grinned proudly at her meal and encouraged everyone to dig in. Sekkachi was the first to reply.

“Nope, not happening” she said, raising her hands in surrender.

Chikara furrowed her brows, displeased. “If not this, then what will you eat?”

“Anything that isn’t going to kill me” Sekkachi replied. “Which, if I’m smart, will be nothing at all.”

Their sensei was not impressed. “Do you think not eating makes you come off cool and unaffected, Sekkachi?” she asked. “Do you think not eating will benefit you in any way, shape, or form in the field?” The young kunoichi rolled her eyes and clenched her jaw. This was one of many things she did not want to get into. Chikara, however, continued onward.

Rule number three: a shinobi must live an active and healthy lifestyle in order to be in top physical condition for their career. This includes eating a balanced diet with three meals a day plus snacks and training often to increase stamina, strength, agility, and ability.

As Chikara rambled onward about health and wellness, Sekkachi was beginning to yet agan lose her grip. Before her sensei could even finish her sentence, she exploded. “Can you just get off my back?!” Sekkachi shouted. The entire group went silent. Huffing like an angry bull, Sekkachi clenched her fists and turned her gaze to each of her comrades. “I don’t understand what the big deal is. If I don’t want to eat, I don’t want to eat, so back off!” And with that, she stormed off into the woods to blow off some steam.

Naru and Rei looked to one another awkwardly, unsure of how to move forward in the wake of such an outburst. The merchant man shoved large bites of food into his mouth—anything to avoid the massive tension—then said in a muffled tone, “Well, I think the food is splendid.”

Chikara met his gaze with an apologetic expression. This really was becoming an absolute disaster, and deep down it was killing her to know she was failing at her job. But now was not the time to dwell. Something had to be done. Rising from her seat, she sucked in a deep breath and instructed her remaining students to stay on guard while she went and tracked down Sekkachi. Genin she may be, but this was likely her first time out of the village and therefore she needed to be monitored. Chikara refused to lose one of her students on the very first assignment solely because she was careless.

Nobody ever knew for certain what was said that night between the two of them but when Chikara returned with Sekkachi in tow, there was something drastically different. Rei couldn’t put her finger on it but the mood had definitely changed and it made her mildly uncomfortable. All that night, she could feel the presence of something inexplicable hanging over her, and more than anything between Chikara and Sekkachi. She tossed and turned and tried to distance herself from it but it was no use. That night, she barely slept at all.

The rest of the trip went as smoothly as it could under the circumstances. The merchant man barely spoke and when he did, it was never anything ill-intended. Naru babbled incessantly, per usual, drumming up conversations about politics she didn’t truly understand and people she didn’t truly know. The strangest, however, was Sekkachi. She seemed guarded but at ease, and she stuck close to Chikara’s side. It was a strange sense of symbiosis, and Rei never could stop thinking about it.

When they reached their destination, it was clear the town had been ravaged by war. Houses were in shambles and villagers ran along struggling to scrounge up food. Is this what happens when conflict gets out of hand? Rei wondered. The scene sent shivers down her spine. They escorted their client the rest of the way to his destination, to a rundown shop where his wife and teenage son stood awaiting his return. The man greeted them, then turned back to the girls and thanked them each personally.

“I know we got off to a rough start” he said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, “but I am grateful to have had you girls as my bodyguards. You have reminded me of what is important in life, after the war had made me so jaded.” Then, turning to Chikara, he smiled and said, “You’ve got your work cut out for you, miss.”

Chikara smirked and shook her head. “It’s nothing I can’t handle” she said confidently.

When they returned to the village, Rei was suddenly reminded of her next greatest mission: to find Kakashi and tell him the good news. She bid her comrades goodbye and then scoured the village, but he was nowhere to be found. He can’t be on a mission again, she thought to herself, though she knew it must be true. He had been working so hard, but this was a time of war and he was a higher rank than she was. He was needed there. The sake of the nation was more important than herself. Defeated, she made her way home.

Hana greeted her daughter with open arms, pulling her into a tight embrace and crying with joy that her baby had made it home safe. “Mom, it was just an escort mission…it wasn’t really a big deal” she said, but Hana wouldn’t hear of it. Anything that may have put her daughter’s life at risk was worth worrying over.

Grandma Teiko, at least, was sane. She slapped Rei hard on the back with a grin and told her, “Good job, girl. You’ll be a jonin in no time!”

Her father was not there to welcome her home.

That night, as she lay in bed, Rei thought of Kakashi. She wondered where he was, what he was doing, if he was okay. She peered out her window to the lake out back and reminisced of the old days when they hadn’t a care in the world and nothing was impossible. He couldn’t hide from her any longer. She was a genin now and for once, anything was possible yet again.

#kakashi hatake #rei natsuki #the scarecrow and the bell #naruto #naruto oc #fanfiction

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