Fubuki: The Blizzard to Come

Chapter 5: Kirigakure's Academy

Waking up, Fubuki couldn't help but wonder why his face felt stiff. Going to the washroom, he saw that it was from his tears, the dry tracks were prominent and visible. He traced a finger down one of the salt tracks.

"I didn't cry... did I?" He murmured as he washed his face, the traces of tears washing away with the water. Blinded by the soap, he felt around for a hair brush to tame his nest of hair. He had terrible bed head—it was almost as if an animal burrowed in there. He decided to have a cold shower since it would help wake him up, after a nights rest on an uncomfortable mattress. He would have to get an apartment or a small house. Fubuki couldn't live in a hotel forever. He wondered if there were any secluded spots with few people. It would be easier to train his ice release that way.

After brushing his teeth he heard a knock at the door. He padded out of the bathroom to the front door. He went on his toes to try and see who was on the other side, but couldn't reach. Since he wasn't tall enough to look through the peep hole, he put the chain lock on and opened the door to be cautious.

It was Ao.

"Oh, Ao-san, what do you need?" Fubuki unlocked the door and opened it.

"The Mizukage has directed me to bring you to the academy. You will be starting today."

"Well that was sooner than I thought it would be." The blandness in his voice was overwritten with a sigh. "I'll need to get some notebooks and utensils on the way there then."

"I'll show you the directions there."

"Thank you. I'll need to change first though." Ao entered the room as Fubuki was shutting the door. Fubuki turned around, hearing a foot step. "You know... I'm not going to high tail it out of here." Getting no response he sighed.

Fubuki disregarded the adult male shinobi and went to do his own thing. He went to change into his kimono, but paused mid-way when he felt the sensation of being stared at.

He looked back to Ao who had a mixture of shock and sadness in his facial expression. Fubuki quickly pulled the kimono over his back, as the large scar on his back was surely what evoked those emotions from the stoic man. Not a second later Ao had gone back to his neutral facial expression.

"How did you get those scars?" Ao asked quietly. He was asking out of his own curiosity, it wasn't being asked to be reported. He just couldn't fathom how a child, no younger than twelve, had gone through so much pain.

Fubuki was silent for a few moments, contemplating on whether he should tell him or not. He decided that he would, but not without changing it. The best lies had truth to them. "My village was attacked..." His hand moved over to his scars. "When that happened I was in the outskirts of town and when I returned... There was chaos. I had managed to save my family but not without a price."

There was a long silence as Fubuki broke away from the intense stare he was receiving. He went back to getting his stuff together. He packed extra clothes, he still had to get used to the new clothes he bought so he would rather wear something he was comfortable with on the first day of school. He packed a black tank and white pants along with a pair of ninja shoes he still had to wear in; he also grabbed his white trench coat for coverage. Even though he was immune to cold temperatures he wanted to cover his skin. He put his feathers in his hair with the beads from Haku and wore the snowflake necklace. Once Fubuki was done he grabbed his satchel and threw it over his shoulder as he closed and made sure that the door locked behind him.

Ao followed him silently, wondering how Fubuki could be so collected.

Leaving the run down inn, he paid the front desk and informed that that he would be staying another night. The lady at the desk wrote the information down and bid him a good day.