Who are you?

Part 21

Shiori woke up groggily. It's been a few days, and for some reason, her dreams were restless. It was to the point that Akira took notice and gave her some of his own herbal blends.

It didn't do much, but she liked the taste. On another note, her training has made some progress. She was now able to connect with the chakra outside her body, but to make it take shapes, she had to purposefully guide her chakra, and this would mean she would be too conscious in the effort and get disconnected.

Akira actually told her that it was expected, and with a lot of practice, staying connected would become second nature to her. Then, she could easily change her shape. But for now, she had to do her best to be semi-functional enough to reach the next step.

She was training near the side of the building. She was sitting on a flat rock covered by the shade of an old tree. Akira was reading and working on some documents in the room before her.

The sliding doors were open so he could watch over her and give her feedback when needed. Overall, it was a good arrangement. She didn't want him to waste hours of his time just watching her and waiting.

This way, she knew he was taking care of her job while also guiding her and being active in her training. Tsunade-sensei did a similar thing. She would do her own reading while she was training.

Shiori snapped back to reality and focused on her meditation. There was so much to learn.

Hiroshi had tasked her with cleaning a section of the garden by herself. She had proven that she knew her way around plants, and today, he was going to chop some wood, so he trusted her to leave her on her own.

Shiori was trying to practice her meditation while she was working. She knew that she had to use what she was learning full-time to fully control her powers, and the best way to get there was to train at every chance she got.

She let her fingers take care of the weeds while her mind relaxed and entered meditation. She calmed her breathing, feeling the world around her and listening. In and out.

Her heart rate slowed down slightly, and she entered the meditation when she felt a sharp pain in her finger. She looked down to see she had cut her finger on a tiny thorn.

It wasn't deep or dangerous. She immediately channeled some healing chakra, and the wound disappeared as if it had never been there to begin with. She was about to clean the few drops of blood off her finger when she noticed the raven in front of her.

It was only a few steps away from her. Looking at her from the ground. That was very strange. They never got this close to her. She had a handful of seeds in her pocket.

She would deny it, but she had been trying to befriend the intelligent birds. When she asked Akira for permission to approach them, he gave her a small bag of seeds and told her the best way to get close to someone is to share food with them.

So Shiori had been carrying the bag with her, throwing seeds for them at every chance she got. She showed her hand full of seed to the bird as if to invite it to eat from her hand.

She didn't expect much, and if it didn't approach her, she could always throw the food near it and move back. But to her surprise, after a few seconds of staring, the bird approached her cautiously.

When she didn't make a move, it jumped on her arm and started eating the seeds. Shiori was buzzing with excitement. It was unlike anything she experienced before. After the bird had eaten a fair share, it started cleaning its feathers.

Shiori let herself relax. The bird was in no rush to get away. She slowly brought her free hand forward to see if she could pet it. Her hand was clearly in view as it moved closer, but the bird did not move away.

Slowly, she started petting its head with the back of her hand. She didn't want to get any blood on the poor creature who had become her friend, so she inspected the bird some more.

She wasn't a bird expert. She read a few books about them when she was younger. She remembered enough to say that it was most likely a male. He also had an old scar on his chest, which was mostly covered by his feathers, but when looked closely, a slight gap could be seen.

"I think I will call you Scar," Shiori said in a soft voice. The bird croaked and snapped its wings a few times. It seemed her name was acceptable. The bird then suddenly jumped and flew away.

She wasn't mad at the Scar. He was a bird, after all, and he might have been bored, or she might have pet him the wrong way. Hopefully, she would see him again soon. Shiori took out a small cloth from her robes and used a small water jutsu to wet it. She cleaned her hand and put the cloth to the side so she could wash and clean it before using it again.

It was near dinner time, and Shiori felt confused. After she finished weeding, she was called to help Akira move some books. Akira had been busy all day trying to restore some old scrolls, and now that he was done, he was boxing them so the originals could be put into a storage room.

There were quite a few scrolls and Shiori had to alphabetically sort them into the box so they would be easy to find. It was an easy enough task. When she was done, she remembered that she never took her handkerchief from where she put it.

There was still some time before dinner, so she went to search. It wasn't there, so she asked Hiroshi if he had seen it. He didn't, and he told her that he would ask around for her.

It wasn't anything of value, but she didn't want to litter the place and leave dirty cloth around. There wasn't anything she could do, so she let it go.

That night, she had weird dreams of running and playing in a field. It was strange because she had never been to such a place. Also, the dream was blurry, and she couldn't see the faces of the people she was playing with, yet for some reason, the dream felt real to her.

She didn't think much of it. It may be due to the air density in high mountains or food and water. There could be various reasons for her restless dreams. There wasn't much to worry about as long as she could function to her total capacity.

The next few days were mostly uneventful. She was introduced to Kenji. Kenji had a lean, wiry build that contrasts with Hiroshi's larger frame, perfect for his role in managing indoor tasks like cooking and cleaning.

His movements were quick and precise, showcasing his efficiency and skill in maintaining the temple's interior. Kenji's hair was medium length, straight, and jet black, tied back to keep it out of his face as he worked.

His eyes were a piercing green, bright and observant. He always scanned his surroundings to ensure everything was in order. Kenji's skin was fair, and he had a youthful appearance despite his responsibilities. His face often carried a look of quiet concentration. His hands were deft and capable, a testament to his culinary and cleaning skills.

He prepared all their meals, and despite the limitations of resources and ingredients, he always made high-quality food.

Shiori's tasks were not in the kitchen but still mostly outdoors. She helped with hanging the clean laundry to dry, dusting and cleaning the indoors, and general tasks that needed an extra hand.

They weren't overworking her by any means. Just a few hours here and there and giving her different tasks so she wouldn't get bored. She was grateful. There wasn't much room to train her body around the temple, and for someone like her who mainly was traveling or training her body, all the energy made it hard to function.

It was good to tire her body a bit. She didn't see or notice Scar after her first encounter, but she noticed how birds seemed to stay closer to her. All the feeding had helped them be more relaxed around her.

She always wanted her own pet, a cat. But her lifestyle didn't suit having a pet, so she settled on befriending those she could whenever possible. She loved Tonton and played with her, but she wanted her own companion—a companion who would never leave her side.

Maybe one day, when she is older, she can look into her options, but for now, she can enjoy her newfound friendship with the ravens.