Test Out

Yawning, I wrinkle my nose and swipe at my tongue as something enters my mouth. Cracking my eyes open, I stiffen. Right. I'm sleeping at Kushina's house. The last thing I remember was using her as a pillow, so how did she start sleeping perpendicular to me with her head on my chest. Taking the last strands of hair out of my mouth, I wipe my lips on my borrowed pajamas. Checking the window, I squint at the thin lance of sunlight shooting through a gap in the curtains. Should be around 5 Am, two hours before the school building opens for students and parents.

Gently lifting Kushina's head, I slip out from under her. Pulling my pillow under her head, I gently lay her head back down. Patting her head softly, I slowly get up. Changing into my dirty day clothes, I throw the pajamas into her purple hamper. Smiling at Kushina's sleeping face, I quietly open her room door. Entering the hallway, I silently close it behind me before tip-toeing to the front door. Slipping outside, I freeze when a hand grips my shoulder. Feeling a chill run across my back, I slowly turn around. Seeing a benign elder lady with red hair, I give her my best disarming smile.

Staring into my eyes, I wait as Mito Uzumaki inspects me. Leaning closer she whispers, "Are you a friend, or is it something more serious?" Feeling my smile twitch, I assure her we are just friends. New ones at that. Letting go of my shoulder, she chuckles before saying, "Good, keep it like that. There are plenty of leaves in the tree for you to pick from. This one just can't have that kind of relationship. Not if our clan wants to survive the worst-case scenario. " Eyeing her as I walk away, I start jogging out of the compound.

Breaking into a sprint, I run to the orphanage. Dashing through the empty streets, I grin as the village starts to wake up. Restaurants start to prep while a few merchants could be seen groggily getting ready to start their day. No signs of ninja yet, but that's just a matter of time. Only the civilian world sleeps in this village. There are always a few ninja teams milling about in the village doing anything from chores to more difficult missions. While the Hokage sleeps, another ninja acts as a stand-in and keeps the village operating normally. Only something important and urgent can warrant waking the Hokage up before his normal hours.

Jogging around the corner, I wave at granny Ning's frowning mug. Charmed I'm sure. Hoping the orphanage fence, I silently slink up to the backdoor. Easing it open, I slip inside. Grabbing my spare set of clothes, I rush to the showering area. Grabbing a cold bucket of water, I strip my clothes off. Quickly wiping my body down, I wash my dirty clothes next. Taking a minute to listen for sounds, I wring the water out of my clothes. Drying myself with a towel, I pull my spare clothes on and head to the backyard. Hanging the towel and wet clothes on the clothesline, I chuckle. The matron should be up by now, I wonder if she knows what happened.

Quickly securing the clothes with clothespins, I leave the orphanage. Turning the corner into the main street, I hurriedly hide back behind the corner wall. What a loser, stalking me this early in the morning. There, on the side of the street looking away from me is my instructor. Seeing him slowly turning, I hide behind the wall. Licking my incisors, I start walking towards the back streets. Like some idiot with a trenchcoat is going to fool me. I can spot that bulbous nose anywhere.

Deciding to walk at least two streets away from his, I walk by granny Ning again. Staring at her as she stares back at me, I flinch as she snaps her wrist at me. Yes, that old wrist definitely snapped. No, I didn't get scared. She somehow threw a cap on my head without me even being able to dodge. Glancing back, I see her walking back into her home. Grinning, I bow in her direction before pulling the visor lower. Breaking into a jog, I take the scenic route to the academy.

Entering the academy grounds from the track field, I slow down. Half an hour until I can solve this fiasco. That's half an hour to myself. Thinking back to three months of practicing the basic three jutsu, I sigh. Minato's notes did help, but the other two jutsu in and of themselves are useless. The clone jutsu is decent since the enemy might miss you, but you can't switch places with your clones. If I just stare at my opponent before the jutsu is used, I'm bound to know where the real body is. Another flaw is the clones are immaterial, they make no sound and ignore the environment. Imagine a clone walking through a tree or leaving no footprints in sand or snow.

Situational is the best word I can use to describe the clone jutsu. That being said, I did have some success transforming the projections into different people. It really doesn't make it better to have 5 different people moving in complete sync and occasionally ignoring obstacles. The only other routine I found was using the substitution jutsu while using the clone jutsu. The gimmick is that the clones follow me when I retreat so I need to dismiss them the moment I use the substitution and make my getaway.

Yes, getaway. The substitution is just terrible. No convenient teleportation to a safe place, marker, or distance. It just summons a substitute object transformed as you in front of you. It's your job to get away. Why? Well, who thought that a space jutsu that is really just a watered-down version of Minato's legacy would exist for everyone to learn? No one. That's who. I really just summon a log from a scroll in my pack and transform it into myself before running away. Simple to understand. Easy to pull off. Retarded to actually use. If you can pull off the substitution, you might as well just kill the opponent since you're faster.

Yes, if paired with either a smokescreen, sense impairing jutsu, low visibility, or an inexperienced opponent, you might pull it off. At that point, you should just run at them with a log in hand. Turning my attention to the nearest tree, I pulse my chakra towards it in a wave. Feeling the drain, I maintain two anchors on either end of the wave as it moves through the tree. Stopping it as it reaches the last leaf, I call it back. Curling my toes as the chakra rushes back to me, I focus on the multitude of faint chakra anchors I created on the tree leaves. Reaching out to one pointing towards the track, I create a connection between my feet and the anchor. Sending a burst of chakra towards the leaf, I transform it into a needle before compressing the rest of the chakra into the stem holding it.

Frowning as the needle drops due to its weight, I send a bit more chakra to fortify its position relative to its stem. Making sure it's pointing at the track, I compress the chakra in its stem to the limit before letting it burst towards the needle. At the same time, I let the position fortification on the needle drop. With a shrill whistle, the needle bounces off the track pavement. Walking over, I run my finger over a small scratch. Not hard enough to do lethal damage, but still dangerous. Smiling, I walk over to the mangled leaf. Forcibly changing the physical property tends to damage the original object. I can't seem to keep an object transformed after letting the connection go, but most objects stay transformed for about three seconds before the jutsu unravels.

That could have something to do with how much chakra I allocate to the transformation itself or the structural integrity of the leaf, but at this point it's sufficient. Maybe another time I'll experiment for a few hours on how to keep objects transformed. For now, I need to get stronger physically as well as work on my chakra control. Perfection isn't real, but that doesn't mean I can't always strive for more.

Checking my chakra, I grunt in satisfaction. Only a tenth was used. Climbing onto the tree, I wrap my legs around the branch. Hanging upside down, I start doing decline sit-ups. I could just use chakra to adhere myself to the tree, but why waste chakra on something so easy? Feeling for another anchor, I start slicing small strips off the leaf using a vibrating chakra string. One cut each time I complete a sit-up. Feeling the burn in my core, I grit my teeth and continue. This is the time to struggle, not out in the field half dead. Glaring at the leaf, I slowly continue. Finally reaching the breaking point, I tremble as my torso refuses to rise any higher. Feeling sweat rolling down my temple, I let go. Swinging my torso backward, my legs let go of the branch. Fliping into a crouch, I smirk as my leaf flutters to the ground. Picking it up, I pinch the fake petals. Twirling my fake flower, I tuck it behind my ear.

Checking the time, I start walking towards the building. Five minutes to go. Walking to the front office, I lazily circulate my chakra. No time to rest. I could care less about being a model student, but I refuse to be anything less than anyone else under the stars. I've already made some ripples, It's time to make sure I'm not smothered under this incompetent and biased system. Entering the doors, I plop down into a chair waiting for the office to open.

Counting the tiles on the floor, a chill runs down my spine. Turning my head towards the entrance, my eyes widen as I see my instructor walking towards the door while looking at his surroundings. Pulling at my chakra, I quickly transform into a middle-aged woman. Brunett with a decent appearance, but a below-average physique. One of the many civilian mothers I see at the local market. Looking at my worn work shoes, I scowl. I really should look at more diverse footwear. Would a middle-aged woman really have work shoes? Hearing the door open, I glance up and offer a polite smile before looking back at my lap.

Licking my chapped lips as he passes, I watch the office slowly open. Getting up, I shuffle into the office. Glancing into the hallway, I release my transformation before walking up to the annoyed receptionist. Seeing him raise an eyebrow, I say, "I need to see the academy administrator." Looking at me for a few moments, he sighs and waves me through. Someone really doesn't like talking in the morning huh? Stepping through another doorway, I find a woman looking through paperwork. Seeing her signaling me to take a seat, I quietly wait for her while relaxing in a cushioned rolling chair. Finally filing away the report she was reading, she glares at me, "You know setting the fire alarm off is an offense right?"

Crossing my arms in front of my chest, I smile, "I was just concerned about our fire protocols and how effective they really are since my instructor clearly couldn't remember them." Squinting her eyes, she scrutinizes my facade, but I've practiced this every day for the past few years. I know how to smile. Sighing, she kicks her chair back, "Why are you here?" Grinning, I let my arms drop, "I'm here to test out of my lectures." Catching a file flying towards my face, I peek around the file to see her reading reports again. Frowning, I open the file.

Closing the file, I stare at her. Chuckling, she takes a sip of water, "Did you really think no one knew your plan? You never listen to lectures, but you always pass within a six-point margin of error. You obviously know the material you answer and yet some of the questions you miss relate to questions you've answered perfectly. I've known you haven't been trying in your lectures. There really isn't a need to test out. I'll just pass you assuming you'll agree to my conditions." Raising an eyebrow at her, I motion for her to continue. There is no way I'll say yes without hearing her first.

Filing another report away, she takes her glasses off, "I want you to write a report on the benefits and detriments of the current education system. Nothing amazing, just ten pages of analysis. No need to prove your points, just refute them with alternatives. I have several notes that you disdain our way of presenting history, but that is not likely to change. What can be changed is everything else."

Cleaning the lenses, she put the glasses back on before nonchalantly throwing another file at me, "You have the two weeks to impress me or I'll send you back to his class. I'm sure you'll be fine without two weeks of his lectures in the case you do fail." Folding my hands back over my chest, I snort, "You can't just change the academy policy for me you know. If you want me to write your report, I want an agreement on paper signed and notarized." Stopping to stare for a moment, she nods her head, "You'll have it in your hands tomorrow. If that's all, you can see yourself out, Miss Aster."

Smirking, I get up and start leaving the office. Suddenly feeling my cap fly off, I hear the administrator cackling in the background. "Tell my mother I appreciate her sending me my cap" she shouts. Clenching my hands into fists, I exit the office. I liked that cap.