Chapter 18: Unexpected Meeting
The ninja tools and weapons class passed without any major incident. Now, it is time for the Chakra and hand seals class. Nothing major, I wasn't aware of. The instructor began to teach the twelve basic hand seals. He took out a chart depicting the skills and hung it on the blackboard.
The kids began to memorize the hand seals. The instructor performed the hand seals one by one to show them to us. After we memorized the seals, he gave a leaf to all of us present in the class and taught the 'Leaf Concentration Exercise' to help us focus better and improve our Chakra control. I was pretty bored in the class and all my excitement from before died down. I can learn better things at home from mother and father.
Guess, I will just send a Shadow Clone from tomorrow onwards. My Chakra reserves are very high, so nobody will be suspicious of me for using clone as a substitute. If it comes to worst, I can just ask for early graduation. Afterall, Kakashi graduated from Academy in just 4 months at the age of five and became a Chunnin at the age of 6.
After the academy lessons were over, I walked out of the Academy with a bunch of fangirls chasing behind me. This was the perk of being an Uchiha with the cool looks and cold attitude, but I got a headache from their continuous pestering.
'I am thinking of a way to survive here and enjoy myself at the same time. But the balance is hard, I will have to relax from time to time. When the Ichiraku Ramen will open, I will be the first customer to try that Ramen.'
After getting out of the Academy entrance, I flickered out and disappeared from their vision. The girls continued to search for me for a while. I watched them while hiding behind a tree when all of them dispersed I went back inside the Academy to meet the Jounin Instructor.
I went to the front Training ground and sat below a tree as I meditated while waiting for the Jounin instructor to appear. After 15 minutes of wait, the jounin instructor appeared in front of me. There was a girl around 9 years of age with him, apparently his daughter.
During the class, I didn't particularly pay any particular attention to the Jounin. But now I began to check his appearance.
He had black hair and ringed red eyes. I was surprised when I saw those eyes and for a moment I mistook him for an Uchiha. I intently stared at his eyes and noticed the lack of tomoes in his eyes.
'So, he is not an Uchiha.' As I continued to inspect him.
He had a distinctive jawline and his standard jounin outfit had longer sleeves than usual. He wore blue Shinobi sandals and tied his forehead protector like a bandanna to his head.
I ignored the girl as I continued inspecting the Jounin. The girl got irritated by my attitude as she angrily snapped,
"Father, why you brought me here to the academy? I am a genin already, why I have to come to the academy?"
She pointed at me and asked,
"And who is this rude guy?"
I was perplexed by her behavior.
'How come am I rude? Aren't you the rude one? You called me here without any reason, I have training to do. Stop wasting my time if there isn't any matter.'
"My name is Izuna Uchiha. I just joined the academy today."
I introduced my self to the girl as I start to inspect her.
She has long black untamed hair reaching all the way to her upper back. Her eyes were similar to her father, red eyes with a ring in them. She wore the standard kunoichi genin outfit with her forehead protector tied on her forehead.
Her appearance seemed familiar to me as it clicked my mind.
'Damn! Isn't she Kurenai as a child? That's pretty wild, I didn't expect to meet her. I tried to recall Kurenai's father's name but wasn't able to recall it. Maybe he was never mentioned in the anime or was a minor side character.'
As if right on cue, Kurenai began to introduce herself,
"I am Kurenai Yuhi. I graduated this year from the academy and I am genin now."
She flashed her forehead protector to me. I looked at her like I was looking at an idiot. Though I won't mind hooking up with her but for now I have priorities. I looked at Kurenai's father and asked,
"May I ask why you called me here today? I think I didn't do anything in particular to warrant your interest except the genjutsu in the morning."
He nodded at me as he began to introduce himself,
"I am Shinku Yuhi. One of the jounin instructors of the academy. Though you harmed your classmates, it wasn't an intentional act. I haven't called you here for that. What I am interested in is your genjutsu? I specialize in genjutsu and kenjutsu, but I am busy with the work from the academy."
He pointed at Kurenai as he spoke,
"Your genjutsu skills are pretty good. So, I would like you to practice with my daughter Kurenai and help her train in genjutsu."
I shook my head in denial as I said,
"I am sorry Sensei! I am just a kid. What can I teach a genin and also I have to do some training after the academy and I won't be able to help her."
Shinku was disappointed by my response but he tried to persuade me as he pointed out.
"Besides Genjutsu, I am also skilled in Kenjutsu, if you want I can train you in Kenjutsu while you help my daughter with her genjutsu training."
I pondered for a while, 'This doesn't seem to be a bad idea, I can learn kenjutsu while also practicing genjutsu. Also, I can skip classes with the help of a Shadow clone and in that time train in Ninjutsu and Shurikenjutsu.
I made my plan as I nodded to him,
"Ok sensei! I am ready. Tell me when and where to start the training."
Shinku replied, "We will start from tomorrow after your classes are over. The location would be training ground 5 of the village if it's fine with you."
"Ok! I will be there after the academy every day. Thank you Sensei!, I will be taking my leave now."
After Izuna left, Kurenai questioned Shinku,
"Father, why you want this kid who just joined the Academy to teach me genjutsu. Aren't you a better substitute for teaching me? What can that kid teach me?"
Shinku shook his head and replied,
"That kid has a very high talent in Genjutsu. It took me some effort to dispel the genjutsu cast by him. He is only 5 years old and is still growing. Imagine if he was at your age, how powerful would his genjutsu be? So, that's the reason I choose him to help you with your genjutsu training. Other than him, I can only think of Kurama clan members, but they are hard to deal with."
"I will believe you if you say so, father."
Kurenai nodded to her father but she wasn't convinced by her father's words and wanted to test it for herself.
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I strolled out of the academy as I decided to neglect the training for today and just tour the village. It was my first time strolling in the village on my own. I had some pocket change given to me by my mother. So, I decided to spend it to taste the street food of Konoha.
After roaming for a while, I spotted a food stall selling some Takoyaki. My stomach growled as I felt hungry. I went to the stall and bought a serving with six Takoyakis. I began to drool as I looked at the golden balls of fried batter filled with pieces of octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and onion. The fragrance was enchanting as I began to look around to find a nice spot to eat these Takoyakis.
Looking around for a while, I found a bench at the corner of the street. A person was sitting on the bench with his head hung down. I approached the bench and was about to sit on the bench when the person noticed my presence and looked at me.
Both of our eyes met and I was surprised to see this person here.
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