Chapter 5

Sano stared on in dread at the upcoming ass beating she was about to get. Even as children, these kids moved like a damn professional martial artist as they sparred.

The whole class was standing or sitting off to the side of the very same field she’d sparred in earlier for her practical tests against Roki, watching as students were called forward to spar against one another in one-on-one combat.

Most of them used what looked to be some standardized taijutsu technique, and she was trying her best to memorize it. The kids who didn’t use whatever the rest of them were using, were just better. There was no other way to put it. The two Uchiha kids in her class used something that looked similar to Jeet Kune Do, and she only knew that because Bruce Lee was a legend.

Unlike the UFC or Boxing from Earth, these taijutsu spars were fluid, extremely fast paced, and brutal. When the two who sparred were relatively even in strength, it was very impressive to watch the rapid parries, deflections, and counter attacks. One fight had that Nara girl monkey crawl her way around her opponent to finish him in an armbar.

She was going to get her ass whooped.

“Sano Aburame and Murakumo Kurama.” Tanaka called out as soon as the last bout finished.

Dejectedly, mentally preparing herself for her upcoming beat-down, Sano stood and made her way out into the field as the very curious eyes of her classmates watched on. She was the new girl in class, and they were obviously interested to see what she could do. Nobody had come to talk with her during lunch, either. If she had to guess, her not being able to talk was a big wall in between them.

The boy that stood across from her was fairly plain in appearance and looked just as nervous as she did. Whether it was from his lack or skills or her unknown potential, she wasn’t sure. In either case, she would try her best.

“Seal of confrontation.” Tanaka spoke, voice firm like it had been every other time he’d requested the seal from his students.

They both signed, Kurama even giving a small bow in her direction.

“Begin!” Tanaka raised his arm from between them, and the fight began.

It became readily apparent to everyone watching that she had absolutely no clue what she was doing as soon as she took up her stance. Murakuma even stilled for a moment as he took in her… form.

“Pause!” Tanaka barked before they even began an exchange. He looked her up and down with a small frown, but before he could comment, she signed to him. ‘I forgot everything about taijutsu.’

Understanding flashed in his brown eyes. Tanaka took a step towards her and leaned in to whisper. “Crash course in combat. First, find a stance that you find comfortable. It doesn’t matter if it looks silly, as long as it works. Everyone is different. Just, make sure it allows you to strike and defend in a moment’s notice. From there, feel things out. You’re here to learn, so that is what you’ll do.”

He gave her a pat on the shoulder and retook his position. “Murakuma, give her a second.”

Sano shifted into several different stances; Most of them had no names in her memories, and they were most likely pale imitations from what she’d seen others do. South-paw, Peekaboo, a low wrestling stance… all of them felt ridiculous and uncomfortable.

She rapidly scanned her memories for anything that could be useful. This wasn’t like fighting on Earth. These ninja-kids had superhuman reflexes and so did she. This was a world of throwing fireballs and making clones… like in some video games or anime.

She ignored the murmurs of her classmates and the expectant, yet confused look from her opponent as she thought about the parallels between worlds. The thought about throwing fireballs immediately made her think of Street Fighter’s Hadouken. So, instead of copying real life Earth stances, she started to copy fictional ones.

Ken and Ryu had boxing stances, which she tried for a few seconds, bouncing on her feet. They felt better, but not comfortable. Chun Li’s, Miss Thunder Thighs herself, stance felt wack as hell. She went through numerous characters, at least those she remembered, before settling on one she felt resonate with her.

She shifted her posture to keep her body slightly angled toward her opponent, left shoulder leading the charge. Her right hand rose up to hover next to her left shoulder, as her left arm crossed her body to rest near her right hip, creating a cross over her body to defend. She felt her balance shift back to rest on her right leg, holding most of her weight, leaving her forward left leg free to move and kick. Her hands were open, ready to slap away incoming attacks and throw thrusts forward.

There was no way in hell she was going to do an Ojou-Sama laugh, not that she could, but Karin Kazuki’s stance felt the most comfortable and natural.

Tanaka must have felt or seen her become comfortable, as he placed his hand between them once more. “Murakuma, start off slow. Begin!”

Tired of waiting, Murakuma closed the distance with a single dash and threw a quick jab towards her face. She quickly slapped it aside, then countered with an awkward palm thrust to the chest. It wasn’t powerful enough to do any real damage, but made his momentum stop.

She flicked a rising front kick towards his face, forcing him to back off and re-evaluate. Not letting him take a breaker, Sano dashed forward and slammed her shoulder into his chest. Seeing as he just got hit, Murakuma sped up, taking off the training wheels and began launching a barrage of strikes, which she hastily deflected or tanked when no other option was available.

Quickly, with deliberate strikes, Murakuma ground her down until she was eventually on the ground and stuck with her neck in between his thighs, choking. She had gotten some hits in, but it wasn’t a great showing by any means.

Her face reddened as she was choked, scrambling for air and to free herself.

“Stop! Murakuma, Sano cannot speak.” Tanaka-senseai barked, appearing over them in less than a second. He practically tore them apart from one another, and when she was free, she gasped for air, creating pathetic, near silent wheezes. “Seal of Reconciliation. Now.”

To his credit, Maurakuma seemed to have forgotten that she couldn’t verbally give up. He looked guilty as he made the unison sign, signaling the end of their bout. Murakuma was just a kid, and she wasn’t going to hold any grudges against him for forgetting her handicap. It was obvious that he didn’t do it on purpose or with maliciousness. This was a simple lapse in the heat of battle.

She made the sign, earning a sigh and a thankful smile towards them both from Tanaka-sensei.

When they went back to their seats, Murakuma followed her and sat down right next to her. “Sorry.”

Sano waved his apology away with a flap of the hand. After taking out her keyring, she flipped through the little cards of paper. Everyone around them peered over and watched as she sorted through the little slips until she found her response. ‘It’s okay.’

Murakuma shifted uneasily, unused to this form of conversation. “So, you were in the war?”

Sano nodded, but simply watched as the next group of students started their bout.

“What was it like?” Murakuma asked, ignoring the ongoing spar completely.

Sano flipped through her cards again to find her response. ‘I have amnesia.’

Murakuma leaned closer to read, then facepalmed. “Oh, right…”

They sat there awkwardly, with her unable to sign to him and start a conversation, and he not knowing what to ask that she could respond too. Eventually, he spoke again. “You didn’t do too bad. You know, after you found your stance. If I forgot everything I ever learned, I would have done way worse than you did. Just… be careful if you match up with Kazuya-san. He’s the best in the class.”

He nodded towards the tall, black-haired Uchiha who had a unique fighting style. “He’s very arrogant.” Murakuma finished, whispering conspiratorially.

They got into another awkward lull as the pretty even fight before them wound down, with the white-haired Yamanka girl coming out with a loss.

“Aburame’s have bugs?” Murakuma asked again, out of the blue. The kid didn’t seem too lonely, but he was obviously trying to become her friend.

She turned to face Murakuma with a raised eyebrow and nodded as she flicked through her responses again. ‘I don’t have insects.’ ‘War injury.’

“Right… right… Well, I am from the Kurama Clan. We’re pretty small.” Murakuma started, before another kid spoke up.

“I’d be careful Sano-san! His clan’s Kekkei-Genkai has a nasty side effect.” A boy snickered from the side, having eavesdropped onto their conversation.

“Oi! Shut up Kenji! It passed me up! I don’t have it.” Murakuma’s heated reply earned the ire of Tanaka-sensei, who threw them a stern look.

The brown-haired Kenji nodded mockingly, like he’d heard a great revelation. “Of course, of course… Just don’t be using any Genjutsu around me. I don’t want to die.”

Oh? Genjutsu? With her intrigue sufficiently peaked, Sano looked towards Murakuma for answers. He grumbled, but sounded proud as he explained. “My clan specialises in Genjutsu. Once every few generations, someone in our clan gets the Kekkei-Genkai. It allows them to have their Genjutsu affect reality.”

“Tell her the downside, Mura.” Kenji mocked as he slid his butt over to get closer to join the conversation properly.

Murakuma glared at Kenji, but they didn’t seem to be enemies. Just good natured teasing. “They get possessed by a spirit who wants to kill everything… sometimes…”

Well, damn… That was a downside if she’d ever heard of one; But, a Genjutsu specialist clan?

Sano scooched over, getting much closer to Murakuma. Oh, we’re going to be best fucking friends. She thought as a smile crept onto her face from under her mask.

—————————-

Sano had two more bouts that didn’t go as well as her first before the day was over. Battered and bruised, she slunk out of the classroom at the end of class. The academy was nice, a solid place to learn, but she needed more than what they were offering. If she was going to make it in this new world, she needed to catch-up, then exceed.

As she left, many adults were there in the courtyard to pick up kids. She scanned the crowd for uncle Jogan, but he didn’t appear to be around. She watched as her classmates joined their families and wondered what growing up in this ninja world was like. It had to be rough, as from what she’d seen, they were more than capable of taking out any human back on Earth, baring guns and what not. To be trained from such an early age… How strong are adults? How strong were her new teachers and Jogan?

Tossing a wave of goodbye at Murakuma, who had noticed her attention, Sano went to one of the training grounds situated near the academy for some more practice. Chakra was going to be the main issue early on, because compared to her compatriots, she was just now tapping into the mysterious resource.

After finding an open grassy field training ground, Sano sat down and began meditation. Her goal, if possible, would be to increase her chakra control. Step number one would be keeping her chakra in her hands and feet, no matter the circumstances. She closed her eyes, found her chakra, and began circulating it. Every other rotation, she would try to keep her chakra in her hands for as long as possible, before moving onto her feet.

Over an hour passed, and she hadn’t moved from her spot. Although small, she could feel her grasp on chakra getting better. The difference wasn’t very noticeable, but it was there. This would take time… It was a good thing that she didn’t really have anything else to do other than train.

“And what are you doing out here, brat?”

Sano physically jerked, startled by the sudden voice next to her ear. Looking over, she spotted Tsunade, the head of the hospital, leaning over next to her face—hands on her hips, and a squint in her eyes.

Sano leaned away, finally causing Tsunade to straighten up and cross her arms. ‘Meditating. Trying to improve chakra control. Shouldn’t you be at the hospital?’

“Felt a familiar presence on the way there, so I came by to see who it was.” Tsunade said casually, turning to look around the green field. “Did you get a new team?”

Sano shook her head, taking the moment to stretch her now stiff legs and arms. ‘No. I am back at the academy. Today was my first day.’

“And you’re training chakra control? Why?” Tsunade took a seat next to her, resting a hand on a bent knee.

The author’s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Sano thought about how to answer, as she had learned that keeping your jutsu and whatnot a secret was paramount, but since she was just starting, there didn’t seem to be any harm in telling Tsunade her goals. ‘I want to learn Genjutsu and Fuinjutsu. They both need a lot of control.’

Tsunade flicked her eyes towards her. “Not wanting to learn Iryo-Ninjutsu? Looks like you need it.” She teased, nodding towards her many bruises.

Sano huffed. ‘No, and I am just not very good at taijutsu. I learned that today.” She paused, thinking of the hand signs to complete her thoughts. ‘If I learn Genjutsu, I can speak again. Fuinjutsu can do the same thing, and it seems really interesting. They both do.’

“Hmm.” Tsunade tucked a strand of her blond hair behind an ear. “Chakra control is important, no matter your goals. Can you tree walk or water walk yet?”

Sano frowned. ‘I haven’t tried. I heard about those techniques in the library yesterday.’

“Give it a try. Show me what you can do.” Tsunade said as she stood up. “It’s simple, basic control. Watch.”

Tsunade casually walked towards one of the nearby trees, planted a foot on the bark… then defied physics as she walked straight up the trunk. Sano’s eyes must have bulged out of her sockets, as Tsunade laughed at her reaction. “This is simple stuff, Sano. If you want to learn Genjutsu or Fuinjutsu, this is the least you can do. Now, give it a try. Focus your chakra on your feet.”

Sano stood sharply, her still stiff muscles protesting at the motion, then ran towards the tree. This was proper ninja stuff! Exciting! She planted one of her feet on the trunk, channeled her chakra to her foot, then lifted her other… just to fall back to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Tsunade sat directly above her. She was sitting on the tree, perpendicular to the ground. “More chakra to your feet. If you crack the bark, it’s too much. There is a fine line where you can succeed. You must account for gravity, changing the amount of chakra needed when you take a step, and a host of other factors…” She looked thoughtful for a second, before continuing. “If you can walk on trees with ease within two days, I will ask a friend to teach you Fuinjutsu. He should be used to teaching young brats by now.”

Tsunade casually hopped off the tree, landing with grace. “I’ll find you in two days. Good luck.”