Forest Child (Sasuke Love Story)

Skills of a Ninja

Skills of a Ninja

Moriko stood there alone in the training grounds of Konoha. The class was finished for the day and it was still early so she decided to go to the place she knew she would be alone. She was still thinking about the battle with Shikamaru. She had almost made a mistake that she just couldn't afford to make. 'It was a good thing I quickly changed my jutsu to a genjutsu. Who knows what would happen if they saw me do that jutsu.'

She looked around to make sure that she was all alone in the training ground. One witness and her life in Konoha would be absolutely miserable. Once she has confirmed that there was nobody around she focused her chakra and did something no one else in the entire world but her can do. She made a tree grow. No, not like a gardener. She literally made the head of a tree (which looked like a bush without its trunk) just sprout out of the ground in seconds. She has the power to control plants, something she feels that she needs to hide from everyone due to past experiences.

She looked at her work and smiled. She sat on the bush-like tree like it was a bean bag and made it grow to look like an actual tree and made it only about a feet taller than the other trees surrounding it to not make it stand out. Moriko knew that someone who went to the training ground often enough to have memorized the place could easily tell that the tree she grew had not been there before but she didn't care for she was already caught up in the beautiful sight.

Moriko could see all of Konoha from up there. She could see everything and everyone but they couldn't see her. Just the way she liked it. Up there, it was peaceful. Moriko was alone in her own little world. Surrounded by the one thing she loved the most, nature. She loves trees and plants like it's a part of her, which in a way it is.

She stayed there, enjoying the sight. It was almost silent but she could hear noise from the village. She didn't even realize how late it has gotten until the sun has completely set and it was already dark. She looked up at the sky and saw the twinkling stars. She lay down on her back and just stared at the night sky.

***
Moriko opened her eyes and saw the sky which was a beautiful mix of orange and pink. She fell asleep on the tree and woke up at dawn. She got up and jumped down and landed on a lower branch of the tree with ease. She repeated the process until she was standing firmly on the ground, just like how a ninja would climb down a tree and she quickly went out of the training grounds.

Moriko then quickly but silently went to her apartment and went into her room without making a single sound. She looked at the wall clock on her small living room. 5:48. She went to her bedroom and lied down on her bed and just stared at the ceiling, knowing that she wouldn't be able to get anymore sleep anyway. She shifted around a bit. 'The top of the tree is more comfortable than this bed. And I don't really need this apartment now, do I? I mean its only purpose is for me to have a place to stay here. The trees in the training grounds is just a as good if not better. And I can make my own food so there really isn't a need for a kitchen to cook...oh well, the Hokage gave me this apartment and I should at least try to make it a home. Though the tree I made and slept on last night felt a lot more like home than in here...' Then Moriko decided that that tree would be her special tree. Sort of like a secret hideout of her own, which was exactly what she felt when she was up there.

She got up and held the pouch the Hokage gave her. It only had a small amount of money which she assumed was meant to be spent on food but since she could make her own food, more specifically fruits and vegetables but she was fine with eating just that. Moriko decided that she would spend the money to buy potted plants to put in her apartment room since she felt more at home when she's near plants.

After what seemed like forever to her but was actually only more than an hour, she decided that it was time to go. People were only starting to get out of their houses and some of them stared at her with curious eyes, most likely wondering who she was.

When she passed by a tree with a branch that reached her shoulders, Moriko quickly made an apple grow on the tree. She immediately grabbed it with her right hand and hid it in her pocket, making it seem like she just slapped it with her hand to move it out of the way. She only waited a few seconds before she took the apple out of her pocket and started eating it.

When Moriko arrived at the Academy, she had already finished the apple, leaving only the stem and seeds. She kept the seeds and threw the stem away in the bin. She went into an empty class since she was early. Moriko decided to seat at the very back left of the classroom with the window to her left. She stared at the scenery outside the window. There was nothing special about it that made her stare, she was simply bored.

Caught up in her own thoughts, Moriko hasn't noticed that her classmates have started to get in the class and none of them really bothered her. That is until she heard two really loud voices. Sakura and Ino were at each others heads again just like when Moriko first saw them. Just before those two banshees could physically hurt each other, Iruka-sensei came in and everyone went in their seats as the lesson began.

Moriko couldn't decide weather she was happy or disappointed that Iruka-sensei decided to come in at that exact moment. Happy because the noise from the girls' yelling finally stopped yet slightly disappointed because it was just starting to get interesting and she wondered how the fight would have played out and who would have won. Although she doesn't show it, Moriko enjoyed the thrill and excitement of a battle or fight between two or more people. Even, no especially when she's one of the people in it.

Iruka-sensei was teaching them about how a ninja should act and what to do during certain situations. Moriko tuned him out and stared out the window since she already knew what he was teaching. She turned her head at the sound of someone calling her name, who turned out to be Iruka-sensei. "Yes?" She asked but she said it with absolutely no emotion that it was hard to tell if it was a question or not.

"Would you mind telling us what a ninja must always do when in battle?" The sensei demanded, annoyed at her for not listening.

"Never underestimate their opponent or let their guard down."

"Yes, that's also correct. But that's not what I was teaching. Please pay attention." He said with a hint of disappointment and annoyance in his voice.

"A ninja must also never show emotion to the opponent, or lose their temper in battle. They must also make sure not to waste all their chakra and have good control over it." She stated it as a fact and she wasn't trying to impress the sensei or be a smart ass like a certain pink haired banshee she so soon discovered to be.

Iruka-sensei sighed and just went on with the lesson. 'She's not only advanced in her physical abilities but her knowledge as well. The reason she doesn't listen to me isn't just because she's bored, its because she already knows everything I'm teaching. And Moriko's already masked her emotions perfectly like a ninja should be.'

Just by looking at her, Iruka-sensei never would have guessed. Moriko looked like a defenseless little girl who might break something if you just touch her. That's partly why Shikamaru thought he could easily beat her. But of course Iruka-sensei of all people should know never to judge people by what they look like. Every ninja should know that. Because the most innocent looking child could turn out to be the most dangerous assassin in the world of the ninja.

***

After the class was over and all the students were sent home, Moriko went to a plant shop. The only ones she could afford were 3 potted plants and a pot filled with only soil and that was because the plants were pretty much wilted but she could tell that the plants were still alive and she could make them healthy in no-time, literally.

She went to her apartment and put a pot in every room. She even put the smallest pot in the bathroom. In only a few seconds she has already made the plants healthy. In Moriko's living room was the pot with nothing but soil. She threw the apple seed she kept in the pot. The pot was pretty big so she was able to make the seed grow into a mini apple tree without breaking the pot.

She stared at the plants wondering, 'will this place ever feel home?'