Merger 1.4
The Academy was an interesting place, Hisana decided. It felt very much like primary school, only insane. Some classes seemed similar enough - maths, history, etc - but others were off the wall. Hisana hadn't had any of the "ninja" classes yet, but the example problems in maths seemed absurdly violent to her; though of course in a school designed to train what were essentially child soldiers would see it differently. She had ninjutsu before lunch, and that lead her onto the question of how she'd use her Sharingan without catching the attention of the other students. Not that any of them had spoken to her at all, not after she was introduced with her new last name.
Hisana sat at the back of the class, resting her head on her arms. It looked like her plan would work - pretend to be slacking during the demonstration period. Students started filling in, and the teacher - none other than Mizuki himself - arrived to restore order to a classroom that was beginning to look more like a warzone than an educational institution.
"Settle down, everyone! Today, we're going to be practicing the Clone Jutsu - I hope you've all being doing your homework, because I'm going to be calling you up to perform it in front of the class throughout the lesson. Now, for those of you who need a reminder..." Mizuki lectured, explaining the basics of the clone jutsu. Hisana put her head on her arms, nearly hiding her eyes, and activated her Sharingan just before Mizuki demonstrated the jutsu. With her enhanced reflexes, she could just about catch the moment he noticed her doing it.
Still, she saw the jutsu clearly enough that she thought she could do a decent immitation herself on the spot. As she understood it, most Uchiha didn't directly copy the techniques of their enemies and use them on them right away; except for the most skilled. Everyone else could get the basics, but had to practice to get the jutsu into a useable state.
"Hmmm, let's see; who should demonstrate their progress for the class... Miss Uchiha, if you would be so kind?" Mizuki asked, and Hisana had to stop herself from giving him a full-on Sharingan glare on the way down. Luckily she hadn't done that, and thus was able to face the class a perfectly recall the motions of Mizuki's chakra. It wasn't a perfect fit for her, made even less perfect by the difference in sheer size between her and Mizuki.
But it was a hell of a lot better than anyone else in the class could have done at their age, even with weeks of study. So she molded her chakra, and released it without so much a whisper. Grey chakra-smoke burst to life, inefficiency made manifest, and Hisana felt the cost of the jutsu bite into her coils.
The smoke cleared and there stood a slightly blurry copy of Hisana.
"Very good, very good. Mind sharing your tips with the class?" Mizuki asked, out of what must have been some sort of sadistic glee.
"I made sure to practice at home, with an older shinobi present." Hisana said blandly, looking Mizuki in the eye - and as her eyes were out of sight of the class in general, she activated her Sharingan for just a moment. Then she was back in her seat and dutifully taking notes. That, Hisana thought, was awesome.
Taijutsu was less awesome. She wasn't particularly tall, strong, or fast right now; and she couldn't pull out her trump card. Mizuki and another Chunin she didn't recognise had them doing warmups and practicing specific punches, kicks, throws etc. for an hour before they switched to sparring. Full contact, all out sparring. Her first spar of her - well, Mary's - life was against a girl she didn't recognise named Ami. She was fairly tall, and Hisana could only hope her sharingan-aided training with Ebisu would pay off.
They made the Seal of Confrontation, and then Ami came charging at her; fists flying. It was all brute power and no finesse, but Hisana could hardly be called a master of martial arts herself. She tried to get out of the way, and she was mostly successful but still caught a glancing blow to the shoulder. She retailed, launching her own punch that collided with Ami's face, sending the girl staggering backwards. Hisana hadn't ever really fought someone before, and she'd frozen up the first few times Ebisu had her punch him, but she could do this!
She rushed forward, grabbing for the leg of Ami's pants, her opponent hurriedly bringing her leg backwards. In doing so, however, Ami had neglected her other leg and Hisana managed to grab onto that one, picking it up and running forward with it. Ami toppled to the floor; and Hisana managed to slide into a somewhat smooth armbar. Ami tapped her leg twice, and Hisana let her up. She'd been hit by a punch that would have broken the jaw of most adult's in Mary's world and come out without so much as a split lip.
Then, of course, Hisana was matched against Kiba and promptly destroyed all over the ring.
She didn't talk to Naruto that first day; to avoid suspicion. Hisana came home from her first day at ninja school with a sizeable bruise, headache and a new jutsu. All in all, not too shabby. She still had training with Ebisu today; but he mercifully allowed her time to rest, eat, and shower in between.
"Before we begin today, Lady Uchiha, I'd like to ask a few questions as to what else you want to learn. The academy's course material is there for a reason, but it's a very general course. I have the training to give you the basics in anything from shinobi archery to medical jutsu, from sealmaking to swordplay - it all depends on what you're willing to put the effort into." Ebisu began, as they walked to a small training ground.
Hisana paused before she responded...
[x] - Kenjutsu. You think swords are really, really cool - and you know you never want to bring a knife to a swordfight.
[x] - Kyujustu. Bows and arrows mean fighting at a distance, and that means less exposure to knives and bombs and such.
[x] - Fuinjutsu. Seals do all sorts of weird and wonderful shit. You want in.
[x] - Medical Ninjutsu. Your ambitions aren't compatible with being a full time medic, but some ability with them sounds like it could just save a life someday.
Please vote via plan for this update. You may choose any combination of the above, or none, though of course you will only have so many skillpoints to assign and learning the basics of a special skill does take some.
