Rotted Rowan

Rival

Kushina gave a hum. "Alright, if you want to start putting your clothes away, I'll get started on lunch."

"Okay, Nee-chan," I murmured; and Kushina brushed past me, heading to the kitchen. I meticulously poured out the new clothings, folding them as I had many times before and placing them in the drawer. When I was done with them, I placed all the empty bags in one bag and set it by the door. I then opened the training bags, pulling out the packs of basic kunai and shuriken and laying them neatly on my desk. The training dummy was rolled up in a summoning scroll, ready to be dismissed and called upon whenever it was being used or not.

Carrying the scroll tightly to my chest, I headed out into the living room, the smell of fresh meat penetrating my smell. I placed it in a bare spot, against the wall, and unrolled it.

"Lunch is almost ready," Kushina called from the kitchen after noticing me. "Why don't you set the table?"

"Okay," I said.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

Once lunch was done, Kushina guided me to the living room after I grabbed my kunai set. She brought me five meters away from the target practice and moved my feet and body into the correct position. She took my hand and gently placed the kunai in it, adjusting my grip on it.

She then walked to the target. "Alright, Naa-chan! Take your time with each throw. Let's focus on landing hits on the target, then we'll focus on more precise hits, and then we'll work on speed. Go ahead and try - focus on the target, and throw. I'll catch it before it damages anything outside the target."

I shifted my weight and looked down at the surprisingly light kunai. I then threw back my arm and...

It was a good thing Kushina was a kunoichi, or she wouldn't have caught it before it went out the window behind me.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

When night had fallen and Kushina had finally gone to bed (I heard her move down to her bedroom and waited thirty minutes), I crawled out of my bed, dropping low to the wooden floor (I actually had to argue against Kushina buying me a rug). Quickly, I moved to my desk and grabbed my pouch of kunai and shuriken. Closing my eyes, I felt for other chakra around me, as Madara had taught me. Finding no one, I slowly melded into the wooden floor, traversing down the wooden walls before latching onto the root of a tree in the front of the apartment.

I was lucky that Kushina's apartment had such a large tree outside her apartment. I could easily enter it and travel from tree to tree until I was outside of Konoha in only a handful of seconds. And with the multitude of trees, all of their roots connecting or touching, it wasn't long before I found myself walking out of the tree above the cave.

I dropped down, tugging off my pajama shirt, and revealing the training cammie I had underneath it. I pulled off my pajama pants and adjusted the training shorts I wore. I then folded both parts of my pajamas and placed them on a nearby rock.

"Madara-sama?" I greeted, walking into the darkness.

"Welcome home."

Bowing lowly, I murmured, "They bought the story. What will you have me do now?"

"Will you be accepted into the academy?" Madara rasped, stepping towards me.

"I believe so. The academy starts up in four weeks, and after I showed Hiruzen my kekkei genkai, he seemed rather eager for me to start training."

I could feel Madara smile, pleased. "He would be a fool not to. Come, I've had Zetsu set up targets. Set your pouch down. You will be running for now."