New drawing of Aisha in her training outfit she wears in this chapter and in chapter 3!
Aisha's POV
Now that the Preliminary rounds are over, I can finally kick some ass. Who's ass you say? The Ho(e)kage's old wrinkled ass, that's who.
If he had trained his ninja and guarded the village better then Orochimaru wouldn't have ever attacked us in the first place. But nooooo he's too busy talking to other fancy rich people and doing paperwork and smoking that damn pipe!
So maybe my current anger isn't solely focused because of that. It's for a couple reasons: he still hasn't told me what he wants as part as his deal, Kakashi has me training all day with different sensei's for the final exams, Kiba's general existence is enough to make me rant, and Sasuke is a moody bitchcake.
I'm ripped from my rant when a hard punch hits me over my head. My hands immediately go up to the sore and rub it. "What the fucking hell, Asuma?!"
"You were spacing out again, leaving yourself wide open for me to strike. And mind your language!" The charcoal haired man says disapprovingly.
I glare at him, "Oh I'm sorry let me correct myself; what the fucking heck was that for!!"
Ausuma sighed heavily, "Maybe we should call it a day, the Suns going down anyway."
"Hehe, that rhymes." I grunt, pulling my hands down from my head. I put my hands behind my back, butler style, and started to hum quietly to myself. I sung the same tune I've had stuck in my head for the past two weeks. I just can't remember most of the words or even where I heard it.
The green trees rustled in the wind, making a subtle background sound. Out feet make crunching noises as we walk back towards the village from the training grounds. The sky was painted a mix of purple and orange but quickly fading into black.
"What are you singing?" Asuma says breaking the silence.
"I don't really know. I can't remember, but I think it's something someone used to sing to me when I was little." I studied the Hokage's faces in the mountains. I tried to imagine each of them having a family to come home to, one to laugh and fight with. One to sing each other lullabies...
"Well it sounds beautiful, you should sing it sometime when you remember it."
I scoff, "I almost rather not remember anything else. Everything I've remembered has been disturbing..." I think back to the memories Orochimaru triggered a few weeks ago. I never was able to sleep very well before that, always waking up in cold sweat because of a nightmare. But lately I can't even get my eyes to shut. One thing was before knowing all that I went through and did. Another is now not knowing what horrible things I did.
Tanaka and I still rarely talk. Only if he's making a snappy comeback at me or yelling at me to stop asking him questions. But I know he remembers everything I don't since he's simply sealed in me and the hit didn't affect him. For some reason he just doesn't want to tell me.
"Well my house is here, will you be okay walking alone to your house?" Asuma says pulling out a chain of keys from his pocket and using them to unlock the front door.
I turn around and walk forwards, a hand raised to my head in a solute goodbye, "Yeah yeah, I'll be fine, say hi to Kureni for me!"
Asuma stuttered, "I-I what-t? Kurenai isn't at my house, s-she's never even been in it before!"
"Oh ouch! Here I thought you guys were a thing. Then you better get a move on before she starts staying at Kakashi's house. Or worse, Gai's."
An image of twenty babies in green jumpsuits winking with red ringed eyes floats into my mind screaming, "Alllllll right!!"
I shutter.
Back on his feet Asuma calls after my fading figure, "Oh Aisha! One more thing, Kakashi arranged your next sensei before the exams. This one you'll be with for the rest of the month. Meet him at the Hokage Mountain tomorrow at 6:30 am! Good luck!"
I raise my eyebrow, "Oh? Okay thanks for training me today instead of Shika-kun!"
It was 7:30 when I got there. Hey, I did wake up at 6:30 like I was supposed to but then I couldn't find one of my cards in my messy apartment. Then when I was walking down the street there was this short kid who kicked me in the shin for no reason. Of course, I chased after the little brat until his mother whacked me in the head with her purse and made me apologize to the kid who was behind her making faces at me..... The nearby shop owner had to hold be back from ripping that kid to shreds.
You could say I'm not a fan of kids.
So finally I'm at the Hokage mountain, staring at their faces waiting for my final sensei. I'm dressed in my training gear; a loose black shirt with the Inumaki clan crest of the back and a slight v-neck, I wore black shorts and the standard ninja shoes that covered my ankles. Around my hands and wrists were bandages wrapped around.
Out of pure boredom, I jumped up to the face of the fourth Hokage, Minato Namakaze, and stared at it. This may sound weird but for some reason the spikey rock hair and the shape of his eyes really reminded me of someone....
"Finally decided to show up I see," the old and rough voice of the third Hokage rings above me. He stood on the actual mountain part sideways, using chakra to keep him from falling. He wore his usual Hokage robes and hat which draped down because of gravity.
"Wait a second, you're teaching me??! Sorry old man but I don't think your creaky bones agree with you. You're like what, a thousand years old?!"
"I assure you that I am much younger than that. Have you ever heard that age is power?" He moved his hands behind his back in a superior way.
I crossed my arms and jut out my hip, "Have you ever heard that I refuse to be taught but an over paid potato?"
Haruzen chuckles lowly, "You've changed quite a bit since you came to my village, but your ability and attitude seems about the same. Tell me Aisha, when was the last time you learned a jutsu that was ranked S by all the five great nations?"
"I'm sorry what? I got distracted by those lines on your face. Were you born with them like Naruto or are those just really bad wrinkles? Will I have then when I'm o—wait you said S rank?" I leap up the mountains side and stand next to him.
I know a couple S rank jutsus that are pretty powerful and take a lot out of you. The last time I used one was against Orochimaru in the Forest of Death...but that almost killed me. It's always good to know a couple of life threatening jutsus, what's the worse that could happen?
"What element is it? Have you ever used it? What's it called? Can you show me what it looks like? Hey if I learned it before the Final Exams, can you treat me to Ichiraku's?"
The third began to turn around and walk up towards the ledge. Dipping his hat down over his eyes he taunted, "It's too bad though, I was going to teach you it but you said no so I guess I won't. Shame really."
"Hey! Wait! Noooo I want to learn it, show me how to do it!" I chased after the old man who was almost at the top. I ran in front of him, making him stop in his place.
"Say it nicely and maybe I'll do it."
An anime vein poked my head, "Listen here old man, there's no way—I don't do manners—not to you!"
"Then perhaps you'll find someone else to teach you it, oh wait, no one else knows it." The man smiled evilly and walked passed me onto levelled ground. He stood straight up and peered over the edge at me.
"You slimy geezer, fine! I'll do it, would you please teach me the fancy jutsu, old man....." He said nothing for awhile, so I started to think that maybe he didn't want to teach me it anymore because I was rude and that I just blew it.
"Well come on, I can't teach you on the side of a hill, can I?"
A crooked grin spread out on my face, I ran up to the new training grounds for the next two weeks, ready to begin training.
"Okay so, what exactly am I supposed to be doing?" I realized I don't even know if it's possible for me to do it, what if it's an Earth or Water element? Those are the two I don't have, which sucks because I think it'd be really cool to go all Avatar on enemies.
"For this Jutsu you'll need the Wind elements to start off, later on when you've mastered the basics, we can then add some lightning. Now like all powerful Jutsu's, you must have absolute focus and control with chakra. From what I saw at the Preliminary Rounds, your pretty decent at that, you just need some slight tweaking that you'll need to know first."
I groan. I hate it when a teacher says you need to retouch some of your skills before doing something. It's just extra work and takes up time that you should be using to actually do the jutsu. Not to mention they all teach the same way and do the same exercises so you never really get better.
I always had some trouble with chakra because of having Tanaka. If I wasn't careful some of his energy could get out and then what's that whole point of being a jinchuriki?
Something sharp strikes me and I collapse to the ground with a bloodied gash on my shoulder. My feet were bound together in some kind of weird blue rope. Though it wasn't rope, more like a force.
"What the hell, old man? Why did you attack me?!" I grit my teeth and hold my shoulder. My left hand glowed green, healing the cut on my right side in seconds.
As I struggled to break free of the weird chakra binds, the Hokage spoked half-amused, "Heh, that is what you'll learn first. To control your chakra so well that you can use it as a weapon of its own. You can form and reform it, make it visible to the eye or not, or have it sharp enough to use like a knife."
The Hokage extended his hand out like he was motioning me to stop, then he turned it upside down and brought it back towards him smoothly. The binds instantly disappeared off my ankles and flew back to his hand. He covered both hands over it for a second then removed them to show a newly reformed sphere of chakra.
I jumped to my feet in an excited burst, "Woah! Dude that's so cool! It even kinda looks like the Rasengan."
"Yes well that's because it was based roughly around the general Rasengan, which is a ball of chakra. But this is different because you can control its form, speed, and movements. It was something The Forth Hokage had started to work on before he—"
He cleared his throat, "So what you want to do after you've done basic focusing, is try to imagine extracting bits of your chakra and controlling it's shape. This is sort of depends on your type of mindset more than sheer strength. This step will take longer to perfect than the actual jutsu."
I nodded my head determined to do it and closed my eyes. I focuses my breathing first then worked from my inner core to my surroundings. 'Now imagine extracting your chakra out like you do when your completely focused,' I say to myself
In the black parts of my closed vision, a siluette appears, it's the same boy with red eyes I keep seeing sometimes. Even with his blurry face I can tell he is smiling, but tears roll down his face.
"Aisha! Stop it, open your eyes!"
My lids flutter open and I gasp. Everything was the same as before, except now I stood in a circle of dead grass. It continued to die and get bigger for half a second then stopped. The diameter of it was at least six meters. I was breathing hard.
"What was that?" The Hokage's eyes were wide but his face was stern.
"I—I don't know. I was just doing what you told me and then—" I stopped talking and looked at my hands. I did accomplish extracting parts my chakra as it swirled around my hand like a blue fireball. But there was some black chakra too, Tanakas. I balled my fist and when I relaxed it the chakra faded back into me.
"Hey old man," he looks at me curious about my softer tone. I don't make eye contact, "Have you even seen another boy with the Sharingan besides Sasuke? With two lines down his face and a black ponytail...?"
He hesitates before shaking his head, though more to himself than to my question, "No, Aisha, I have not..."
He stood up and tipped his hat down. The scales obviously had just tipped, "Try again, but focus on one thing only this time, then we can move on."
"HA! I did it! Did you see that old man I finally did it! I formed my chakra and made it like a blade! Oh Yeah!" I throw my hands up in the air to celebrate my victory.
"Who's awesome? I'm awesome! Who's awesome? I'm awesome! Who's awesome? I'm awesome!" I was now practically parading around in a circle. The grass was matted down form me continuously standing in this spot all these days.
It's been exactly nine days since the Hokage first showed me the beginning to the jutsu. Everyday he'd show up around noon and in the evening to give me tips or to watch me progress. Of course, he can't be here all the time because he's still the villages leader. We've gotten pretty close, like any sensei and student. Although he still hasn't told be the last part of the attack.
I turned around so I faced away from the many slashed up trees, I grinned at the old man and dusted off my training clothes, "Now part two?"
He got up from the tree stump he was sitting on and picked up his hat he'd taken off, "Now part two."
"Great! How do I do it?"
"Hmmmm.....To be honest I never thought this far."
My face went from crestfallen, to a blank stare, to (my personal favourite) rage, "WhaT THE ACTUAL HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!?!"
"Just what it is, see, the Fourth Hokage never finished it, I told you that. From what I had seen him do and the notes he made for it I was able to get you this far. But it's up to you now to create an S rank jutsu using the chakra technique you just mastered."
I lunged at him.
"You cunterpilar! If I'd wanted a bitch I'd have gotten a dog!" I attempted to trip him off his feet but the guy surprisingly moves with agile. In half a second he dodged the kick and grabbed my open arm then pushed on a pressure point, making my body temporarily freeze.
"Oww! Hey stop! Mercy!!" I wiggled away from him and created distance. I pulled the hair out of my face and tightened my long ponytail.
"Heheh. I'll be back tomorrow and hopefully you'll have an idea of what to do. Remember you only have a few more days till the exams, get some rest."
I scowled, really? He's just going to leave me, a twelve year old, to figure old something a 90+ year old couldn't. Assbutt.
He puts his hat on, "Oh and Aisha, small hint, think of a storm."
He moved his hands in a specific motion, then smoke began to twist around him until it covered him completely like a cocoon. When it dispersed, he was nowhere in sight, My jaw dropped. What kind of hint was that? What's with that dramatic exit?
I frowned at the surrounding forest and over the edge of the hill were you could overlook the entire village. I rested my eyes on the colourful sky made by the setting sun.
For some reason I was reminded of the blank piece of paper I always kept with me and brought everywhere. I pulled it out of my shorts back pockets and infused a small amount of blue chakra into it. I examined it like I have for the past few days since I remembered about it.
My faced changed to determination, "Alright, I'll bite. Bring it on Gramps."
I readied myself for more training. I returned the secret and slightly torn photo of the two figures I always get flashbacks of, into my back pocket.
In the photo, five year old me was laughing while being hugged by my mother and father.