Water sloshed under her sandals, cooling her aching feet as she stared out across the clear waters. They were at the park, though it was a different one to the last. Slightly smaller feet dangled next to hers, pale toes barely brushing against the water's surface. Tsuki stared at the unfrozen lake beside her, evidently thinking about what had happened yesterday – exactly like Risa was doing. She'd plummeted down into icy waters just like the ones in front of her only hours before, and everyone remembered it... well, if the eyes boring into her back were any indication.
"You OK, Tsuki-chan?" Risa asked, after a few more minutes of peaceful silence, quietly wondering what the other girl was thinking. What did three-year-olds need to think about, anyway?
She nodded. "Un."
"Wanna run around again for a bit?" she questioned. It wasn't like they could play ninja with the others anyway. Most of the boys involved didn't want the girls playing, like the little half-blind idiots they were no doubt going to grow up to become, and the others were content to either sit quietly on the side or maybe play in the sandbox, should they feel adventurous enough. The other girls at the orphanage were another story entirely. Since when did three-year-olds gossip? Risa wondered, half amused, half alarmed at the situation. Admittedly, it bothered her a bit, especially since the topic of what's hot seemed to be focused entirely on her. She'd struck up a quick friendship with the girl with the freaky hair and eyes, whilst managing to get the now not-so secret gate at the back of the garden shored up, so it was safe to say she wasn't well-liked. Risa shrugged. Kids would be kids. She ignored the irony of that statement. No way in hell was she marking herself with the same label as them. She wasn't a kid – she was a fully grown adult trapped in the body of a child. That was in a completely different ballpark. But she was adjusting, and that was the main thing.
"Sure," Tsuki chirped, humming happily as they both stood. Risa led the way, ducking into the trees, keeping an eye on her friend to make sure she didn't get into any trouble. Though, knowing her luck, she'd probably be the one more likely to end up in a sticky situation. She'd woken up only a day ago, and she'd already had one near-death experience.
'All good practice for later on in life,' Inner added snidely.
Risa rolled her eyes, trampling through the forest at record speed on her short and chubby legs. She needed as much exercise as she could get, given her pitiful state, and what better way to do that than by running about the park? It didn't seem all that suspicious either, much less so than a three-year-old doing press-ups and sit-ups. She had no desire to attract any attention to herself, especially when she didn't know who was watching her. After all, she had no idea about Shimura Danzo and his whereabouts. Canon Danzo had been awfully fond of kidnapping gifted orphans and training them into baby assassins, a profile which she now, unfortunately, fit into. Risa hardly wanted the start of her new life to be filled with brainwashing and other manipulative tricks. The thought had a ball of anxiety and fear stabbing through her like a knife to the gut. That wouldn't be fun in the slightest that was for sure. Not to mention she'd be way more likely to get killed. Danzo's privatised army was disposable, all for 'the good of Konoha'.
"Risa! Risa! Come and look at all the pretty flowers!" Tsuki tugged at her sleeve, pulling her towards a clearing filled with lavender and a few other assorted flowers. "They're soooooo pretty, aren't they?"
"Yeah," she said, nodding. The lavender bushes were oddly tall, especially to her, considering they were both only three-years-old. Purple buds were level with the tops of their chests, and Risa knew if they sat down they'd be perfectly concealed in a sea of purple and green. Hidden from this mad, mad world. "Wanna run around here for a bit? Or d' ya wanna sit down and look at flowers?"
"Tired," Tsuki mumbled, yawning all of a sudden. It was like a switch had been flicked, moving from energetic Tsuki to an I-want-to-sleep-now Tsuki. On the whole, it was slightly alarming, but Risa was Risa. She could deal with that. Besides, it was hardly surprising though, considering they'd been running around like mad a couple of hours previously. Her legs were aching a bit still from all of that. She couldn't start slacking on the whole getting-ready-for-shinobi-life training thingy she was doing. She needed to be ready. She had to be.
"And just a minute ago you were ready to run about screaming," she said, smiling as she plopped herself down on the grass next to her friend.
Arms tackled her around her midsection, a head burying itself into her stomach. "Risa's comfy," she muttered.
"Well I suppose we can rest here for a bit," Risa said, ruffling the silky white locks that she was not jealous of in the slightest. "Nap if you want. I'm gonna meditate."
Tsuki peered up at her, curious. "Medi-date?"
"Meditate," she corrected. "It helps with learning to control your chakra."
"Chakra?" Tsuki blinked.
"Um," Risa mumbled. How was she supposed to explain it to a child? She barely knew what it was anyway. "It's the stuff... err... you know... the stuff that ninja use to do stuff... like making things go boom." She mulled over what she'd said, wanting to bash her head against the wall. Silently, she prayed no one had overheard her rambling. It was embarrassing enough that Tsuki had heard.
"Oh, cool."
Risa blinked. She actually understood that?
'Kids are weird, Outer.'
True, true.
'You coming in?' Inner asked.
Risa nodded, quietly sinking into the meditative trance she'd only recently learnt to slump into. It took far too long, and the wind rustling around her as well as Tsuki's snores didn't particularly help. In fact, she was surprised nobody had come to fetch the two of them so they could head back.
Either way, she made it to Inner's domain without too much trouble.
"How goes Operation Fluffy?" she asked with a smirk, sitting in front of the low table in between them. Where it had come from Risa wasn't sure, but it was there to stay in her mindscape.
"He's been ignoring me."
"Aww shucks."
Inner rolled her eyes. "We've only known him for a day. I think we just need to show we're here to stay."
"Well, he's kinda stuck inside us, so he's the one who's here to stay," she said, shrugging. "He's our roommate now."
"I suppose you could look at it that way," Inner mumbled. "Either way, it'll probably take us a few years to get the idea of friendship through that thick skull."
"What to do in the meantime though?" she asked, hunching over the table, resting her head against the smooth wood.
"Train – just like you've been planning, idiot."
Risa sighed. "In what though?" She scowled, absently scratching at the wood. "I don't want to ever have to rely on Kyu's power," she said. "I won't use him like that. I don't want to... so I need to be strong enough on my own."
"Well... that's adorable..."
"Inner!" she hissed.
"Lemme pinch those cheeks of yours already," Inner demanded, grabbing her cheeks, stretching and squishing her face in ways Risa hadn't thought were possible.
"Geroff!"
Inner smirked, letting go of her abused cheeks. "I guess we need to decide what we want to specialise in now, huh?"
"Yeah," Risa bit out, rubbing at her reddened cheeks. "I was thinking maybe on trying to become a medic like Tsunade..."
Inner clicked her tongue. "Not a good idea."
"But—"
"That takes some extreme chakra control, imbecile," she explained, folding her arms. "What are the guarantees we have that? Think about it... besides, you said you wanted to be strong, didn't you?"
Risa scowled, sinking down on the cushion she sat on. "Tsunade is strong."
"She's an exceptional medic, with ridiculous chakra control that rarely comes around once in a generation. Most medics are half as good at best, and they're stuck following the three rules governing the whole Med-Nin shebang," Inner continued.
"OK... so it wasn't the best idea."
"You got that right."
"You're mean, Inner."
"Tell me something I don't know," she said, sitting back, eyeing Risa from head to toe. "Any new ideas?"
Risa sulked, pouting as she racked her brain for any more ideas about where she was going to take her life. In her last one she hadn't started planning her career until she was sixteen, but apparently her new life wouldn't wait that long for her to make up her mind. "Strength without the medic side?"
"You should work on chakra control, that's for sure, but I'd say it shouldn't really take priority," Inner decided. "You don't know whether you'll have the chakra control for Tsunade punches, so pick another attribute to work on. We can wear basic weights to bring our average strength up to par – but don't expect anything extraordinary."
"You're so fussy..."
"Shut up and think, idiot."
"OK, OK..." she mumbled, chewing on her lip as she thought. "Weapons?"
"We don't have any, and I doubt we'll be able to get our hands on any for a few years at least."
"Ugh," Risa grunted. "Speed?"
"I was thinking that'd be a good one to work on..." Inner said, tapping her fingers against her arm.
"So why didn't you say so?"
"Patience, grasshopper," she grumbled. "You need to learn to think for yourself – I won't always be on hand to help you."
"So I'll focus on speed then?"
"I'm thinking speed and stealth... so you can run away and hide from opponents, because let's face it, your body won't hold up against an adult shinobi seriously trying to kill you."
"Speed and stealth, huh?"
"You probably ought to look into some fuinjutsu too, but those will be the main things to work on – along with the basic strength and chakra control and the like, OK?"
Risa gave her a set of thumbs up.
"Good, good." Inner nodded. "So our main goal over the next few years is—"
"—to become really fast and ninja-y."
"—to become a master thief."
Risa paused, blinking as she processed what Inner had just said. "Wait, what?"
"Thieves are fast and stealthy when they steal... some traps around objects might also involve fuinjutsu..." Inner trailed off, a wicked grin quirking at her lips. "Also, you can steal either some money, valuables or even weapons, which we sorely need, because I doubt any pocket money we're going to get will cover what we need to stash up on."
"But—"
"Think of it this way – if you ever get a mission as a shinobi that involves thievery, you'll have plenty more experience and you'll be able to trash the opposition."
Risa scowled, sticking out her lower lip as she huffed. "Fine... I suppose that's not too bad of an idea."
"Why would it be? My ideas are awesome!"
"Sure, sure..." she mumbled, blinking as she was yanked out of her mindscape by a hand shaking at her shoulder gently.
"Risa-chan, it's time to go back," the Matron said, waking Tsuki with a soft nudge.
Risa blinked, staring out at the setting sun, smiling slightly as Tsuki latched onto her once they began their walk back.
By the time she turned twelve she'd be ready. There would be no mistake about that.