Konoha's Maelstrom

3

Meiko finished her cleaning in less than a week. Jiji had stopped by to give her her allowance of ten thousand yen, barely a dent in his money or wherever he got the money from. Meiko knew for certain it wasn't from her parent's accounts because non one without their blood could access that, even the Hokage.

She had continued her physical exercise, but with so many books, she rarely went outside now, instead favouring to sit around the garden and read in the trees.

She also explored. Her favourite areas were the library/study, the garden, and the training fields. It wasn't as big as the village training grounds, but it was big enough and spacious enough for great training.

She was delighted with the house and how peaceful it was. After the orphanage, it was a brilliant breath of fresh air.

Eventually, Meiko started reading her father's diary of Fuinjutsu he developed, or jutsus he wanted to make. That made Meiko want to unlock her chakra reserves.

Meiko was going to do it in her personal training grounds and was heading back to her house after her physical exercise when she noticed academy students, probably the youngest years, walking and laughing. She stopped and watched them walk by.

She caught what they were saying.

"We get to unlock our chakra today!" and "I'm so excited!"

She watched them walk past and then decided to follow quietly. She hid behind objects easily and was quick to be able to mask what she was doing. Eventually, they reached the academy and Meiko climbed a tree to watch the class.

She was waiting for a while, but the class did come out and go to the academy grounds for chakra unlocking. She was careful to listen to what the teacher was saying.

"Unlocking chakra is a very important process, which is why we have many people here to watch and help you. Sometimes, when we unlock chakra, we let a lot of it flow out, so make sure to imagine your chakra is like a tap or something you can turn off unless you want to waste your chakra. If you are having difficulty, please ask one of the instructors around," the teacher said.

Meiko watched with interest.

鳴戸

Shisui was returning from a mission when he saw it.

A small girl, definitely not an academy age, was following the academy students. She looked excited about what they were talking about, so Shisui read their lips. The students were talking about unlocking chakra.

Naturally, Shisui thought that the kid couldn't wait to unlock her chakra. Except, she didn't stop following them. She continued, then she climbed a tree and watched the class.

Shisui was intrigued. He recognised the girl alright. It was obvious she was Meiko Uzumaki, the demon girl as the village had dubbed her. Uchihas knew better, and most didn't bother with her, though Shisui knew who her parents were as well. It was obvious, not to mention the fact that Itachi's parents had been good friends with her parents.

He continued to watch the girl as she sat comfortably in the tree.

Then the class left the classroom and Meiko was soon running across the Academy roof, as if tracking the class from the outside.

Upon the loud chatter of students drifting up, Shisui watched as the girl turned a sharp left and jumped down into a tree that was surrounding the Academy training grounds.

So she wanted to watch them unlock chakra, he thought with confusion.

He stood in a tree on the far side as he watched her. She was watching with rapt attention, hanging onto every word and seeming to be taking mental notes.