Naruto Shippuden: girl from whirlpools

sides unseen

Chapter Two: Sides Unseen

That first week after graduation it seemed as if summer had come into full bloom. Kids of all ages released from the academy were free to roam the streets and the sound of childish laughter could be heard everywhere as the sun shone down on the village and flashes against windows. Everyone seemed happy. After all, who could be gloomy on such a beautiful day?

Minato. That was who.

Having spent the past year longing for this summer when he could finally begin official training with the other graduates and the more seasoned nin, he was feeling pretty hard done by. This was because on a day when he should have been running around like a lunatic in one of the genin training grounds with Ai and Saburou, enjoying the sunshine and the smell of fresh green life, he was on his way to shut himself into the village library with a girl who went everywhere with a little storm cloud over her head. He was half-hoping she wouldn't even bother to show-up, or had forgotten their appointment. But that was hopeless. If she failed to turn up, other kids in his position might just shrug and go play outside. Minato knew he was pathetically responsible enough to track down where she lived and remind her all over again about the consequences of failing her exams twice.

It was needless speculation. When he arrived at the library, she was already there waiting for him on the steps, wearing what he suspected she'd been wearing a week ago on graduation day. Had she at any point taken those clothes off and washed in the intervening time?

"Ready?" he asked her, smiling a little fixedly.

She looked at that smile in disgust and went inside ahead of him.

Although he initially dreaded these lessons, as the days slid past he grew to consider the tutoring rather less hostile than he'd initially expected. There was even something extremely cathartic about reciting information from books he knew off by heart to a catatonic nitwit who spent most of the time with her forehead pressed to the library table.

"So you see why lightning is greater than earth, but weaker than wind."

"Nnnnn."

Minato saw himself as a rather diligent teacher, it was just his pupil who was unwilling. She pulled faces, picked her nose, and was a genius at making him feel like the stupid one for having bothered to learn all this stuff in the first place.

"You need to get this or you won't pass!" he warned her.

"Yeeeees."

But it was a case of leading a cat to a pond but being unable to make it swim – and if he tried to force the issue, he would find claws permanently lodged in his arms for his trouble. She was not only disinclined to learn, but vehemently opposed to it for some personal philosophical reasons.

"When will you ever need to know the boiling point of water when you're fighting someone?!"

"It might come up," he said quietly, though he knew that wasn't the point. A shinobi wasn't also a warrior of great skill, but a man – or woman – of great intellect and wisdom. Having a rounded education developed them as people, rather than as just killing machines.

He'd already explained that to Kushina but she'd just looked at him like he was an idiot again.

Occasionally the lessons would move outside when the subject turned to improving physical skills, and although he was cleared to use the proper training grounds, as an academy student Kushina was still restricted to using only the academy grounds which were, typically, closed off during the summer holidays. The only places they had in which to practice were the narrow, broken alleys behind houses, and a few abandoned buildings in the oldest districts. They had to be careful. If the Uchiha police caught them messing around condemned houses and shops, they'd be sent home with a flea in their ear.