Chapter 7

The weekend passed in a flash as Sano continued her daily routine: Wake up, library, train, practice, rinse and repeat. Jiraya had made her several Chakra Seals ranging from 10% to 95% in intervals of 5’s. She’d been wearing the 10% seal ever since it’d been made, using it for practice as she trained.

The 10% seal made her weaker in terms of chakra, but she was still solidly super-human in terms of Earth standards at the physical level. Her already sub-par jutsus learned at the Academy; the Clone, Substitution, and Transformation, were even shoddier with the weakest of seals on, but they did work. It took extra care and precision only to have them end up sucking just like before, but that is what the training is for. She didn’t care if she sucked for the entire time in the academy, as long as the long-term results paid off.

Speaking of which… Jiraya had shown her something that he probably shouldn’t have. When their lessons had ended on Friday, he vanished in a puff of smoke. On Saturday, she had asked how he remembered their lessons and interacted with objects if he was using a clone. In the Academy, it had been common, ruthlessly ingrained, knowledge to everyone that their clones would not share senses or information with the original. She never questioned it then, as it was a very beginner friendly jutsu for children… but how did Jiraya remember all of their time together if his clone was the one teaching her?

As it turned out, he wasn’t using the Bunshin-No-Jutsu, or Clone Jutsu. He was using the Kage-Bunshin-No-Jutsu—The Shadow Clone Jutsu—and his clones were ‘real’. Real as in, the clone would copy him exactly, remember what it did, give the information back to the original when it was poofed, and copy everything he had on him, from seals, to tools, to injuries. It even had its own Chakra supply!

She wanted it.

The amount of shenanigans the Shadow Clone Jutsu could do was absurd. You could train in two places at once and recall all of the information the clone learned. The clone could and would act like you exactly to blend in, because it was you, just a ‘real’ clone. It could use its chakra supply to use jutsu and create seals… It had literally limitless potential. You needed help to climb or a second pair of hands for a task? A normal clone couldn’t do that. At least, not the one they learned in the Academy. The Academy Clone jutsu didn’t create a solid manifestation of a person, only the illusion of a person. It was a trash manifestation of a mind trick compared to the absurdly overpowered Shadow Clone Jutsu.

And she couldn’t have it.

Jiraya had cringed when she had noticed the discrepancy, complaining and groaning about how Tsunade was going to be furious that he wasn’t actually there to teach her and how he’d been using a clone. And of course, she would be, because she was going to find out when Sano bitched and complained to everyone and everything that could see and understand her hand signs about the jutsu until she got to learn it. It was that OP.

Jiraya had said learning the Kage-Bunshin-No-jutsu was out of the question, but he said a lot of things that weren’t true. She was going to believe that this was one of those things until someone said otherwise.

It was early in the morning on Monday as she walked through the village before school. She had a place she wanted to finally visit and someone to talk to. The Aburame Clan compound was on the east side of the village. It was on the complete opposite side of where she lived, and she assumed that was because the ‘hive’ of insects the Aburame used didn’t like her being around. Her Uncle Jogan said she could visit for short spans of time and that she’d always be welcome, but this would be the first test to see if that rang true. Nobody else from the Aburame had visited her at all, and that felt off. Even if she didn’t have many friends or family… she was still part of their clan, right? She was bound to have some cousins or grandparents? Surely?

The morning streets of Konoha were peaceful and calm, but many people walked along or operated their shops before dawn. The village was lively at all times of day and night. Several other clan compounds were situated on the east side of the village as well. She’d passed the Yamanaka compound already; a large walled fortified section of the village. To her, it looked like a small village inside the greater village—Like one of those old russian dolls.

When she arrived at where Jogan had said their clan compound was, she found a much smaller compound. Over the stone walls, she made out a handful of ornate Japanese styled buildings, made of wood with clay shingles layered on top. The two guards stationed near the entrance watched her approach.

‘Hello.’ She signed, and immediately one of them drew recognition. He was on the younger side, in his mid teens with spiky black hair and what she was now calling the typical Aburame fashion; a tall collared trenchcoat and goggles on his head.

“Sano?” The one who had recognised her immediately asked, the other realized who she was when her name had been spoken. “Are you here to see Jogan?”

It was a good thing they knew who she was, as it saved her a lot of time. ‘Yes. Can I go inside?’

The guards shared a look, as if asking each other for permission. “Wait here for a moment. I will see if someone can show you the way.”

She looked beyond the gate and saw that the compound was indeed small. It looked hard to get lost in, but knowing the way to Jogan’s home would be ideal. As the silent guard entered the gate to find someone to show her around, Sano got the feeling that she was… other. She was and she wasn’t an Aburame. They would let her inside, but it seemed that they were unsure of if she should be. It didn’t bother her much, but it would probably tear apart old-Sano if she existed.

Around thirty seconds of awkward silence passed before the guard returned with Jogan himself. Either they moved swiftly—which wasn’t out of the question, as ninja were fast—or Jogan’s home was near the entrance. The guard opened the gate and Jogan gestured for her to come to him, which she did. The inside of the compound wasn’t much different than the outside’s appearance. It was fairly underwhelming. Not many people were up and about either. It was quiet.

“Good Morning, Sano.” Her uncle greeted as she crossed the gate, hearing the metal and wood clasp close behind her. “I didn’t expect you to visit.” It was a question, but filled with affection at the same time—a pleasant surprise for him.

‘I have questions.’ She signed. ‘I also wanted to see the clan compound.’

“That’s expected. You have school soon, though. We must make it brief.” Jogan proceeded to lead her about with a hand on her shoulder. It seemed like a very common thing here, but maybe she just forgot that it was typical to lead children around like that? She wasn’t sure, but she was sure that the excuse for school was just that—an excuse. It seemed she overestimated how long she could stay in the compound. Jogan had tried to make it seem like it was because of school, but her surprise visit probably caused some troubles with the Hive.

Nonetheless, she was unbothered and had questions to ask. ‘Can I learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu? Can you teach me?’

Jogan surprisingly smiled. She’d gotten really good at reading his expression under his collar. “Ahh, back on this are we?” He gave her shoulder a fond squeeze. “Back before your injury, you bothered my brother about learning it all the time.”

Old-Sano had good taste then. It was the most valuable Jutsu she’d seen and/or heard of to date. ‘Jiraya has been teaching me.’ She signed. Seeing Jogan nod and sensing the continuation, she signed again, ‘He was using Shadow Clones to do it.’

At that, his fond squeeze turned into a squeeze of agitation. “Did he now?”

Jiraya was in trouble. Even an eight year old could hear it from the tone. ‘I want to use a Shadow Clone to safely make Explosion Tags without…’ She paused as didn’t know the sign for supervision. ‘Mentor’.

“It’s not a matter of if you can learn it, it’s a matter of if you can use it safely. I know you’ve looked into it.” She simply smiled with her orange eyes in response. It was obvious that she did. “It’s a dangerous jutsu because in order to summon a clone, you must split your chakra in half to give it to your clone. If you make a mistake, such as giving it too much or all of your chakra, you can very easily kill yourself.”

‘I am training in chakra control.’ She signed quickly. ‘I’ve been—’ She stopped signing, but Jogan had seen her hands and had the sense of an adult. The adult sense of knowing a child was doing something they shouldn’t be.

“What have you been doing, Sano?” He asked calmly, which would have been accepted by an eight year old Sano, but she was mentally twenty-two. She knew better. ‘Nothing.’

“Mmmm.” Jogan hummed, deciding if he should pry. Thankfully, he did not. “There’s been talks of making it a forbidden jutsu now that the war is over. It is restricted for now.”

That was dire news for her training if so. ‘Then I need to learn it as soon as possible.’

Jogan shook his head, crushing her dreams. “No. Not until you prove yourself capable. Being able to water-walk or tree-walk is nothing special, Sano. All Genin must be able to do both of those. Take your time, you will grow.”

‘I won’t have time. It’s going away.’ She signed quickly, but Jogan once again shook his head.

“I don’t think it will be forbidden. Its derivative will, that is certain, but not the base jutsu.”

Oh, how she wished she knew the sign for derivatives. She’d be speed running these questions.

As she thought about how to prove herself responsible for the jutsu, Jogan showed her several buildings around the compound. Most of them were homes or storage areas, but there was a single building which housed their clan’s matriarch—Shikuro Aburame. They were very distantly related, apparently, but not enough to matter in this day and age.

One thing she noted as they walked and chatted about her training, was that there weren’t a lot of people about. While early, there should have been more than the scant few people she’d seen. ‘Where is everyone?’ She asked.

Jogan’s hand, which had never left her shoulder, stilled for only a single moment. She noticed it. “We lost a lot in the war, Sano. More than the others.”

‘How? Why?’ While insensitive, she thought she deserved to know.

“Specialty poison—Poison designed to target our insects and their hosts.” He turned them around and they began to walk from where they came. “No matter what you hear people say about us, we are a strong clan. Do not pretend you haven’t heard what others say, because I know you have.”

She remembered the civilians when she went shopping and herself when she first woke up. Even some of her classmates… Everyone talked about the insects and how the Aburame were crazy and infected. She didn’t really blame them for that. The clan was different, to put it kindly.

“We are strong both with bonds and our actions. We are deadly for assassinations, excellent at scouting, and a terror on a battlefield.” Jogan’s eyes were pained as he spoke, but he carried on. “There aren’t many of us left. Only around a hundred.”

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That… wasn’t good.

As she digested the news, she asked a question without really thinking it through. In hindsight, it was terrible of her to say… but it came out through her hands anyways. ‘Why are you saying we?’

Deep down—No, that was a lie. On the surface, she didn’t really feel like she belonged in the Aburame Clan. It didn’t hurt her feelings at all, but there were signs. She didn’t know them at all. Not really. She didn’t have their insects. She didn’t know their jutsus. Hell, nobody but her uncle had even spoken to her before today, and she was the one who spoke to the guards outside first.

Jogan gracefully slid in front of her, the hem of his trenchcoat flapping as he knelt down to her level. His other hand softly landed on her other shoulder as he gave her his full, undivided attention. His collar slipped open, whether by will or happenstance, letting her see his mouth as he spoke. “I said we, because you are still an Aburame. I know you don’t remember running around the compound, but you did. I know you don’t remember having your Kikaichu, but you had them. I know we don’t… share emotions well, but you are and will always be an Aburame. Your success is our success—no matter how it is achieved. My success is your success, forever and always. This clan is yours, and you are the clan.”

He took a breath and stared into her bright orange eyes with all the seriousness he could provide. “You are unique in more ways than one. Your path will and already has differed from many, but at the end of every single day, you are an Aburame. Host or not. The hive is not what defines us.”

It was clear that Jogan found this a very important topic, one he wanted to set in stone here and now. While comforting, she didn’t really care all too much about it. Maybe if she understood more, her perspective would change alongside it. For now, it was just… awkward. She nodded to show she understood, but Jogan searched her eyes for a moment longer. He didn’t find what he wanted, judging by his slight frown. He stood smoothly and gestured off to where the gate was. “You have school soon. It’s best we get going.”

The walk back was quiet. Jogan didn’t speak any further about the clan or ask how her training was going. He looked as if he had many other thoughts going through his mind, and his day had only just begun. As they approached the gate and the guards opened it, Sano threw him a quick sign. ‘Thank you.’

She ran off down the street towards the academy and Jogan watched her leave until she was around the bend.