Open Pick Me! Or Me! No, Me! Me! [Tutor]

[Kagami Miro]

Nostalgia always crashes into my head like waves into a cliffside. Each time I step foot onto the loose earth of the Academy field this happens. The cool breeze, the whisper and rattle of leaves in trees and the bloody cries of anger and peril as students failed to complete the obstacle course and the like. ‘Smells like disappointment.’ My contract summon whispered into my mind. Lately she’s been pessimistic.

With a roll of my shoulders I tilted my head side to side to crack the joints. “It’s only disappointing because they failed. These kids need a positive role model in their life. Not me though, today I’m tutoring anyone that’s up for a challenge.” I rubbed my hands together in front of me, spacing my feet properly apart, my hand sealed a few intricate seals before slapping the ground with a solid whack. From the earth rose up four treasure chests made from the rock around me. With a devilish grin my red hues cut both ways to see if the coast was clear of any other students or teachers were around. Even if other chuunin approached what were they really going to say to me? Anbu Sennin? ‘Hey, don’t let it get to your head.’ Naibu was always damn quick to scold me, if not, keep me level.

The chests were lined up in a row facing the academy pagoda. It was now time to get to work. After a quick montage of opening the chests and fiddling with the locking mechanisms, arming them, and supplying them with surprises and goodies the chests were finally ready for testing. I stepped a few feet back, looking over my work and patting myself on the back. ‘These could kill one of the students.’ “And? If they can’t handle this they’ll die on a mission. I’m recruiting lethal soldiers, not lazy main branch ninja.” Tch, even the thought of Main Branch makes my stomach fold over like milk in the sun. “Alright, time to get the word out.” In slowly and out, the rhythm of breathing was key for my body to begin to peel apart into sheets of paper. My arms rose into the air letting the paper shoot off my arms like a bursting confetti cannon. Letting the wind do the rest of the work to preserve chakra paper sheets scattered throughout the academy grounds to recruit students to the field.

 

[Hanabi Aiko]

The word was out, and here she came to learn. She had been brought into the academy by Rei, a seemingly important member of the army, she had potential, or so she was lead to believe, so she was excited to prove herself to...well, any given human. She had been studying a stupid amount, about all sorts of things and jutsu, even going as far as to perhaps create her own, though who knows when she would ever use it, as it was functionally useless.

"Keiko reporting for duty!"

She sounded excited, throwing a cloud salute her new teachers way. She wasn't aware of the teachers status in the hierarchy, as she also didn't for most of the hierarchy. She liked the womans hair though, Keiko's being down to her ankles and somewhat unkempt. She was the living embodiment of a female japanese horror movie icon. If her hair was wet and it was a little bit dark out, she'd scare any given person, this was not on purpose, she was just unfortunate looking. She had spirit though, and maybe when she got older she could use the fear to her advantage, perhaps as an ANBU even!

 

[Kagami Miro]

A high pitched shriek broke the sound barrier when a student by the name Keiko appeared from the depths. Or somewhere, academy students were crafty but this one either had quiet footsteps or I was too busy daydreaming. ‘She looks like…’ My eyes shifted into a squint, observing the petite student, long black hair, that look of intrigue on her eyes. It reminded me of my old self when I was a student, back when dark brooding was an everyday occurrence. Nowadays it’s a combination of brooding and ANBU work, and tutoring potential pupils. With the looks of this student… well let’s just say it was too early to tell if they’d be worth the investment.

My arms folded neatly under my bust, blatantly inspecting the kid. “Keiko huh. How nice of you to join my class.” As we talked the paper sheets that flooded the field and Kumo subtly dispersed into dust. “I’ll be your Sensei this evening, let’s skip the formalities. Today you’ve chosen to improve yourself and become an admirable ninja. That said, a ninja needs to be quick on their feet, vicious, ready for anything that is thrown their way. Physically and mentally.” Speaking with conviction, my scarred arm slipped away to point at Keiko then at the four chests evenly spread apart. “In one of these chests is a chakra cake that I want you to retrieve. Figure out which one and bring it back to me.” Each chest looked identical, even if you poked and prodded them with a stick it would be hard telling what is in each chest.

“Don’t die either. I’m not a medical ninja and don’t care for fodder students who can’t even open a chest up.” To fail this trail would leave a heavy impression on my way of thought about Keiko. She looked spry enough to evade any threats the chests may have hiding inside of it, if not there was always more students a stone's throw away to get me my piece of chakra cake.

 

[Hanabi Aiko]

She shifted back and forth amongst the chests, she was conflicted on which to open. She had been told to pick a chest, which seemed easy enough, and open it. She was also warned of getting killed. She thought maybe the ninja was being facetious, that it was a trick into scaring her and refused to fall for the mental ruse. After all, she was a student, they wouldn't start trying to kill her until she was at least a genin or an equivalent right? RIGHT?!

So, she played the worlds deadliest game of eenie meenie minie moe. On the final moe, she opened the chest, it was the third of four from the left. She opened it from about 5 paces back, flicking her hand up toward the sky, she exclaimed with a rousing fury.

"OPEN SAYS ME!"

The chest would fling open with no input from her physically, a little trick of Kinesis jutsu and it being able to manipulate objects at a distance. She needed to be ready for anything, the teacher had said, well maybe this was a good show of that as the chest ticked about 3 times, then exploded into a noxious gas. She reacted with the coordination only a young soul could, and reached her arms behind her, almost touching at the finger nails, and slammed them forward, creating a smack noise that could rival the thunder in rain country. The noxious gas crept toward her quickly, but the air remained still until a rush of it pushed against the gas and threw it away from her, dispersing it back away from her. It would settle into the debris eventually, but it wasn't getting anywhere near her.

Meanwhile, the soles of her bare feet had opened a few of their pores, releasing a few bugs into the ground to consume the poison as to prevent the area from becoming contaminated to other students. They would eventually return to her through the avenue they left, teacher none the wiser. They would then begin a breeding cycle, as all the bugs in her did, to integrate the poison into the nest as something to be resistant to the next time it was encountered.

"Hmph no cake!"

She exclaimed angrily, poofing out her cheeks.

 

[Kagami Miro]

As Keiko approached the chests to pick one out I took precautionary measurements of my own, stepping a few meters back towards the academy pagoda. Hell, I don’t want to die either or be in the blast zone. That’s for the meat shields--... rather, the student. With a spirited holler Keiko picked an earthen chest and without physically lifting a finger the lid flung open. Half a second passed before the chest activated its trap.

Out of it flung a poisonous gas that covered the surrounding area. Birds and bugs within the vicinity plummeted to the ground instantly however Keiko was quick on her feet. With a thunder clap she managed to push the gas away. ‘Wind jutsu? Without seals?’ Naibu invading my mind. ‘No, maybe an advanced element that uses wind… Kinesis I think. And to think there was another gravity user in the academy.’ A defeated sigh escaped my chest. Keiko, a student, not even a genin had skill with advanced elements at her age and skill. Perhaps, I was wrong to judge her so swiftly.

The burst of air pushed back the poisonous gases and let it disperse on the ground. Another thing to tend to after the tu--. My pupils spun into the infamous sharingan, observing the young girls chakra control. At her feet tiny bits of chakra moved throughout the grasses, nibbling away at the poison before returning back to her. A smirk wiped that neutral expression off my lips. For a student to impress me so quickly was an achievement on its own. Lips sealed shut, refraining from mentioning her sneaky stunt. I piped up, “What the hell kid? No cake? Hurry up and find me what I asked.” My foot tapped quickly, feigning impatience just to put her on edge to get more and more reckless.

 

[Hanabi Aiko]

“What the hell kid? No cake? Hurry up and find me what I asked.”

She frowned, there were three chests left. So she once again began the ritual of eenie meenie minie moe, this time she took a few more steps back and popped the chest open as she did before, no flare this time, just looking at it. This time she could hear gears spinning up, and then kunai sprayed out toward her at an unreasonably fast pace. She got small, tucked her head down and dropped to the floor. She was a small girl, made smaller by her 'ball up' defense, the kunai flying over and around her. No pomp, no jutsu, just good old dodging.

"Oof, that was close..."

She wiped sweat from her forehead as she stood up to peek inside, nope no cake. She turned to the teacher and pointed to the last two.

"Are you sure there's cake in one of these? Are you secretly a villain and I'm in a torture game?!" her childish imagination was wild, she was like seven after all, with unfettered access to manga and books, she obviously liked the thriller and horror stuff. She was questioning her sensei's methods, but following along with her game for the sake of interest. She could have just had her bugs open them all at once and encase her in a safety bubble, but that wouldn't have been as fun.

 

[Kagami Miro]

Another trap went off but this time it even fooled myself. Right when the youngster flipped open the lid kunai shot out of it in all directions with lethal intent. The golden dagger I had strapped to my lower back was gripped quickly. The dagger spun within my palm, clutching it tightly to deflect the kunai that even sought to harm myself. Not merely a big enough threat to even get me to move an inch.

Without any fancy movement Keiko used good ol’ dodging techniques to avoid the trap. A bit lackluster in the style department but the important thing is she came out unscathed again. ‘Are you a sadist?’ That annoying voice chimed in again. Refraining from answering Keiko’s spoke up again. Kids these days just sit in front of manga books and read anything appealing, in reality they should be training. No days off in my dojo! A curious brow rose up at her wild imagination. Shaking my head side to side I caught a glimpse of a wood cutting tool propped up against the small field shack in the distance with red stains on it. “Strange... Anyway, you have two more to open. I’ll give you credit for avoiding the traps so far. Let’s see how you fare with the next.” A hand extended outward to point to the few remaining chests available. Even though they looked awfully familiar, keen eyes or those who possess the abilities to view chakra in its physical form would be able to tell the difference between the two that remained side by side.