As if activated by your touch, the paper began to crumble until it turned into a pile of dirt in your sensei's hands.
"Dirt?" you breathed, staring at the finely sifted earth material in the palm of Kurenai's hand. You could tell by the dark, peaty colour that it was quality topsoil, undoubtedly fertile if you were to grow crops with it.
"Earth," Kurenai corrected. "This affinity is most common among ninja of the Stone Village, and I'm surprised you have it. It's very, very rare in Konoha shinobi, and I wonder why..."
You tensed.
"Who knows, you might be an Iwa kunoichi in disguise!" she teased, laughing. You relaxed and stared off into the distance, your eyes clouded.
"Then what do I do?" you asked finally.
"Do?" she asked, sounding amused. "Oh no, you don't need to do anything. I will arrange something for you along the lines of sending you away to study for a few months."
"Sending me...away?" you asked in disbelief.
"There are a few shinobi adept at Earth Release techniques in the Leaf, but no one has an earth affinity," she replied. "It will be very difficult to teach you. On the other hand, Iwa have plenty of ninjas that specialize in earth-related techniques. I'm sure they wouldn't mind taking one scrawny little genin and teaching her the basics. They're not particularly territorial of their jutsu, I believe. If I were sending you to Kumo, however, we might run into complications. But for the most part, I'm sure the Stone Village could spare one of their sensei for a few months...if we offer them a suitable payment, of course."
-:-
Kurenai informed you that she had sent a message to Iwakagure and obtained permission from the Hokage for your soon-to-be departure. In the meantime, she sent Team 8 out on various D-ranked missions to kill time. A few weeks later, she received some news, which she promptly conveyed to you.
"The Tsuchikage says he'll send someone to come to Konoha personally," she said, sounding displeased at the news. She held out a somewhat crumpled piece of parchment covered in writing. "Says he doesn't trust Leaf shinobi in Earth Country. The Stone Village is quite a ways away, so don't expect the Iwa-nin to be here for at least another week. We saw firsthand how long it took our messenger hawk to get there and back." She forced a small smile onto her face. "It'll be more than enough time to get some decent training done."
-:-
Kiba, Hinata, and Shino all seemed to be preoccupied with their training, and you were left behind.
It simply wasn't possible to train with Kiba and Akamaru. Fang Over Fang was a ninken and shinobi combination that you couldn't hope to try out. Gentle Fist was out of the question too. Despite your efforts, you just didn't have the Byakugan to be able to see the chakra points. Half the time you were just guessing blindly, never knowing how far off you were. Hinata tried to help, but memorizing charts and diagrams only went so far. Shino's insects didn't trust you, even after he gave you a small pouch containing the scent of the female. They buzzed around you for a bit, then lost interest.
Training with your teammates just made you miserable. You felt of little use, and were wishing that the Iwagakure shinobi would be here soon. You vowed that upon your return to Konoha, you would match the rest of Team 8 in skill.
Kurenai was shocked and you were more than relieved when the Iwa-nin arrived ahead of schedule, on the morning of the fourth day. You were summoned to the Hokage's office and you brought with you a sizeable backpack containing all of your belongings. You had a feeling you wouldn't be back for a while.
Go to Chapter 99.
YOU ARE READING
A Kunoichi At Heart
Fanfic[Naruto CYOA reader-insert] You've wanted to be a ninja ever since you watched Naruto. You had always dreamed that one day you would wind up in the shinobi world. When that fateful day arrives, how will you react? And more importantly, what will you...
