Burden

Chapter 5

Question after question was asked. I answered. Not caring about the information I gave out.

Do you have any friends? No.

Why not? They say I'm annoying.

Why do you think that? I don't know. Everyone thinks I'm annoying.

Do you think your annoying? Sometimes.

Why? Because I can see the irritated expression on people's face when I try to get them to be my friend.

How about close acquaintances? I have a few of those.

But you don't consider them friends? No.

Why not? Because friends aren't supposed to abandon friends for other people just to make themselves look popular

And you aren't popular? No.

"You're healed now."

I came out of the lazy numbed place I had put myself in to answer questions and dressed myself.

The woman stood and backed away from me. Like I was some sort of scared animal. Her hands were clearly visible and she was watching carefully.

Thanks for making me feel even more pathetic. I struggled to keep a wry smile off of my face and then turned to face the Hokage.

"Well, you seem like a pretty intelligent person Rukia. I have a few more questions to ask you. Do you know what Ninja are?"

"Ninja are people trained in fighting and assassination. There are different reasons for different groups of people to be ninja. Some people are ninja because being hired to kill people gives them lots of money. Then there are other ninja that are good ninja that only kill to protect people and are usually a group of vigilante. Who illegally work to protect the people outside of law enforcement because they feel that either the law enforcement is corrupt or that the people aren't being protected enough. Then there are people that become ninja for some type of revenge. Ninja usually fight with shrunken and katana and wear non descript clothing. They live a double life of pretending to be citizens who uphold the law during the day and hunting down bad guys at night."

The people in the room seemed to deadpan a little at my explanation.

"Uh. Well, Rukia, that is a little right, but see, this is a Ninja village. Ninja here are completely working within the law unless they break it. They go out on missions to help civilians and usually escort them. Assassination is only for high ranking ninja members and the only time the ninja in this village kill is to protect people and when absolutely neccessary."

"Oh, okay. So you're a ninja, old man? I guess you gotta be cause this is a ninja village. Does that mean you go out on high ranking missions? Cause the leader is usually the strongest."

"Heh, my usual opponent is actually paperwork, Rukia-chan. The only time I go out to protect the people physically is when the village itself is under attack. Now, my next question is, do you understand all that being a ninja entails?"

"Hmmm. I think so. I've never killed people before, but I know sometimes it's necessary if you want to protect someone else from being killed."

"I'm glad you understand that it's a very serious occupation. Now that we've spoken about that, would you like to go to civilian school or would you like to go to ninja school? The academy is where everyone who is training to protect the village and get stronger starts out at."

I sat there quietly for a few moments. As a civilian, I would be very weak. I would not be able to protect myself from strong people. Since this is a ninja village, that means that it's full of strong people and I don't want to get hurt.

"I would like to go to the Academy."

"Alright. Now, I have to finish your file and contact an appropriate guardian."

"Oh. Okay." I felt a little dissappointed. I didn't want to go with a stranger.

"Boar, go fetch Yamanaka Inoichi."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

A puff of smoke and he was gone.

"What! Hey, old man! Am I gonna learn how to do that? That's pretty cool. I didn't know that was even physically possible. Hey can you walk on air?" I thought about all the times on Bleach when people fought on the air. That would be so cool.

A chuckle came from the Hokage and he smiled at me. "If you train hard enough, you'll be able to do that someday, as for walking on air, that is physically impossible. Even if it could be convenient."

A light knock cut off the conversation and a young man with long blonde hair and chiseled features and green eyes walked in quietly.

"You called, Hokage-sama?"

"Hmmm, yes. I did. I wanted to ask you if you could be this young lady's guardian. At least until she's a Genin. Before you say anything, I ask that you look over her file first and then speak to the ANBU who found her and Tsunade. Until then, hold off on any decisions."

The old man took some papers off of his desk and placed them in a manilla folder before handing it over. The new man only responded with a slight nod.

"All of you are dismissed for now. Rukia, would you like to stay with me while Inoichi goes over your file and Tsunade puts your records in the hospital?"

A throat was cleared before I could respond and the man who had my files was standing in the door way.

"Hokage-sama, it seems her birth date is not in the file."

"Oh, uhm. It's the 26th of October. I am currently eight years old."

The man studied me for a moment before nodding and making his way out the door.

"Hey, old man. Why does he not have any pupils? From what I know of the anatomy of the eye, the pupil is supposed to be there. He looks like he only has an iris, but of that were true, he would be blind, cause the iris just contracts to let more or less light into the eye so that the optical nerves in the back of the eye can pick up information and translate it to an image in the brain."

"Ah, Well, you see. Here in Konoha, we have different clans. These clans have special abilities and bloodlines that are only available to the people a part of that clan. Inoichi is from the Yamanaka clan and is going to be the head of the clan as soon as his father retires. The Yamanaka clan specializes in using Jutsu, which are ninja techniques requiring the use of chakra, which consists of one's physical and spiritual energy, to enter a person's mindscape."

I tensed slightly at that. Enter my mind scape? No.

"Don't worry, he's not going to enter your mind. They only use that technique on missions to gather information from enemies or to change a situation to their advantage. Here in the village, a lot of the Yamanaka work in the Torture and Interrogation Department. It might seem scary, but they won't harm you and they won't enter your mind unless you ask them to or give your permission. They are fairly nice people."

"Uhm... okay. Hey, don't you have paperwork to do old man?"

At the reminder, the Hokage immediately took out his pipe and lit it before sighing deeply.

"You are correct. I suppose I should get back to it. Over there on that bottom shelf is some appropriate reading material if you wish to read."

"Thanks!" I smiled.

Maybe it won't be so bad here after all.

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