Past stories and future thoughts

I don't know if I slept more than five or six hours, but I was so full of energy. Or full of adrenaline. I was so nervous because of that test, but I didn't know when it's going to happen. It was so much silence. I only felt some chakras and that was all.

I changed into that classic ninja outfit. That will be proper for the test. I couldn't go there with the purple outfit, it was showing too much skin and as far as I knew, there were only men around.

A knock on the door made my heart beat faster.

"I brought your breakfast." I heard a voice saying.

I opened the door and in front of me was a masked man, like those two I saw when we arrived. He had a tray with a plate filled with onigiri and grilled fish.

"Thank you," I said, taking the tray.

He left and I started to eat disappointed. I thought it was Kimimaro-san. I wanted to go to Orochimaru-sama now! I sighed loudly. The food was amazing, but I was so nervous that barely touched the food. Ugh! Why was the time passing so slowly? I sat on the floor, trying to meditate. It was no use. I couldn't concentrate, so I decided to go to Kimimaro-san. I opened the door and collided with Kabuto-san, almost losing my balance.

"I'm so sorry, Kabuto-san."

"It's OK, just come with me." He said a bit annoyed.

Oh, it was finally the time. I started to feel fear. Will I fight Orochimaru-sama? I will lose, of course. What could I expect? He was a Sannin after all.

We arrived in that huge room pretty fast. Orochimaru-sama and Kimimaro-san were already there.

"I hope you slept well, Mikura-chan."

"I did, Orochimaru-sama."

"Well, let's begin then, shall we?"

I gulped. What will I do?

"Kabuto, give her a pouch."

He took his back pouch and gave it to me. I checked it, and I found eight shurikens, two explosive tags, five smoke bombs, and one kunai. I attached the pouch to my right thigh, waiting for indications.

"Mikura-chan, Kabuto will be your opponent. I want to see your combat level."

"Oh, OK," I said surprised.

I stepped back, taking my attack position. Kabuto-san did the same. He nodded, telling me that we can begin. I tried to attack him, but he dodged easily every punch or foot that went in his direction. When he became sick of my attempts to hit him, he switched from defensive to offensive and started to hit me back. I dodged almost all of his attacks, but his foot caught me off-guard and in one second, I was on the ground. I got up fast, taking some distance, preparing some chakra shurikens. I used the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique and I threw them in all the directions he might run, to have better chances of hitting the target. Unfortunately, he was as good as I expected and dodged all of them with his kunai, excepting one, which scratched his shoulder. He ran in my direction at full speed. He wasn't going easy on me. He attacked me with his kunai and I tried to dodge with mine. Metal clashing noise filled the room. He was a tough one. He almost hit me, but I used my substitution technique, leaving him in a flock of butterflies and with a smoke bomb that exploded.

He was blind now, that was my chance. I threw my kunai in his direction, but it only disappeared in the smoke. At the same time, I heard steps behind me. I turned just in time to see his shurikens coming in my direction. I wasn't able to dodge all of them. One made a deep wound in my left arm and another scratched my left cheek. I flinched because of the pain, but I had to be careful because he was in front of me with his chakra blades. I dodged those full of fear. He was pretty serious. He managed to cut a lock of my hair with his blade, but I bent over, caught his waist, and slammed him hard on the ground. I didn't realize what happened, but in a blink of an eye, he switched our places and stood on top of me with a kunai next to my neck.

"Nice." He said with a smile.

He helped me to get up and went next to Orochimaru-sama.

"Very well, Mikura-chan."

"But I lost..." I said disappointed.

"You are still young and inexperienced. You must train a lot to become skilled in close range combat."

"I thought so..."

He laughed, really amused. Kabuto-san approached me, using his green chakra to heal my wounds.

"From now on, Kabuto and Kimimaro-kun will train your fighting skill. I'm not really the taijutsu type. But from time to time, I'll test your skills."

Kabuto-san was done with healing me, and went back to his place, next to my future shishou.

"Now, I shall tell you about your Kekkei-Genkai, but why not testing it first?

He took a few steps back, while Kimimaro-san and Kabuto-san took some distance.

"What should I do?" I asked confused.

" Just stay there."

"OK."

I watched closely at his hand signs - snake, ram, boar, horse, bird and he clapped his hands together.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

He brought his hand to his mouth and blew a large blast of wind in my direction. I will get a direct hit.

"Don't dodge, Mikura!"

It was too late anyway. I put my hands in front of my face, but the impact only pushed me a little back. Impossible! I opened my eyes wide and I saw the blast returning to him. No way! I should be hurt, but I wasn't. Did I deflect it?

Orochimaru-sama easily avoided the blast and the three-man came in front of me. I heard a noise as the wind hit a wall and destroyed it.

"What... what was this?" I asked panting.

"That was your Supreme Barrier. This Kekkei-Genkai belongs to the Shimizu clan."

"Shimizu..." I whispered.

"Your clan has its origins Land of Water. After the Third Great Ninja War, only four members remained alive, but they hid because many villages hunted them for their abilities."

"But why am I here?" I asked curiously.

"Your clan refused to be a part of the War. But unfortunately, the Third Great Ninja War was not the only war. In the Land of Water, there were many civil wars during which clans with Kekkei-Genkai were used extensively, causing many to view them as harbingers of war and death, leading to purges and genocide to the point of parents killing their own children. Many clans went into hiding, and the Shimizu clan wanted the same. But they were caught and the enemies slaughtered most of the members. Your dad hid you in his summoning to protect you, but the summoning was sent back, and you remained with it in Ryūchi Cave. His summoning was a snake, named Kondai."

Hm, snakes again? My dad had a snake as his summoning? Huh, maybe that's why I felt so uneasy around them, even if they are made of stone.

"When I got in contact with my snake, he told me about you. Apparently, your dad asked Kondai to make sure that you'll be safe, so he took you into his world, but you were only one year old, so he couldn't take care of you. When Manda heard about this, he asked me if I was interested. And I was, but I had to keep you hidden, so I left you with Yuri and Hayato in my safest hideout."

I was sad and astonished. I didn't know what to say. He did an amazing thing for me. He was such a generous man. And those snakes... They really took care of me and made sure that I'll be safe. I couldn't believe what I was told. It was too much information and it was hard to digest.

"Do you need some time alone?"

"No, Orochimaru-sama. I'm fine. Just... tell me more about my Kekkei-Genkai."

I will be a shinobi after all. I didn't want to show weakness.

"As its name tells, it's a barrier type jutsu. It's a combination between Water Release and Wind Release. The principle seems simple to me, your barrier somehow works according to the principles of reflection."

"Yeah, this makes sense. It seems quite useful in battle."

"It is, but that doesn't mean that it has no weak points. It protects you from ninjutsu and genjutsu, but you can't deflect physical attacks. And like every jutsu, it will not work if you're out of chakra."

"OK, got it."

"Well, I think you had enough for now. I'll summon you later for the training.

"Thank you, Orochimaru-sama. For everything, I mean." I said leaving.

I went to my room, ravished. So much information, in such a short time. I couldn't help but think about my clan's fate. I learned about the Third Great Ninja War from Yuri-sensei, but this story was just as tragic as the rest of the War. I wondered for a second how my parents looked like. Which one did I resemble more? What kind of persons have they been? At least they protected me till the end. That meant... they loved me.

I felt tears in my eyes for the first time, after so many years. I whipped them away. I was about to become a shinobi. I had to be strong. It's natural for shinobis to deal with loss and pain, but they must not show it.

A knock on the door made me jump in attack position. Did I fall asleep?

"It's me." I heard Kimimaro's voice.

"Come in."

"Are you OK?" He asked with a worried face.

"I'm fine. I fell asleep and you scared me."

"I was wondering, would you like to eat our lunch together? I must show you the surroundings anyway."

"Sure."

He showed me the way and we walked together. He had a shadow of a smile on his lips, which made him look a bit brighter. He seemed a kind person. Maybe staying here is not going to be as I imagined.

We entered a small kitchen with basic equipment and a small pantry. On the small table, two steaming bowls with miso soup were already placed.

"Choose a seat." He said.

I sat on a random chair, there were only four seats anyway. He sat on the other side of the table, so he was in front of me.

"Itadakimasu!" I said, really hungry.

He gave me a faint smile and we started to eat in silence. While we were eating, I couldn't stop some stealthy glances. He was very graceful, even when he ate. Me on the other hand... I was eating like a pig.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, catching one of my glances.

"No, no. I was just lost in thoughts." I said, scratching the back of my head.

"You seem a bit nervous. Is it the training with Orochimaru-sama that makes you this way?"

"Well, I am a bit nervous about it," I said, happy that I was saved.

"Don't worry, Orochimaru-sama is patient when it comes to his apprentices. I trained with him too."

"Wow, really?"

"Yes. He became like a father to me somehow. I bet that it will be the same with you."

"I hope so. He saved my life and I owe him my loyalty. And now that he helps me to develop my skills, I owe him even more."

He truly smiled this time. We finished our food and I went back to my room, feeling a lot better. Kimimaro-san was so nice and kind.

I decided to rest a little, trying to forget some certain green eyes and how they filled my stomach with some unknown thrills.