22 First impressions
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Birds started to chirp and sing their songs, dawn had broken and the world was waking up.
I stared at my ceiling, my eyes slightly red but still wide awake.
'I wish I had some melatonin right about now…'
Sleepless nights were nothing new to me, I had spent much of my previous life rotting away in my bed scouring through the newest updates on novels, shows and anything else that I could use to distract myself. However my sleeplessness today was a result of my excitement, not boredom.
'At least that's new…'
I got up and freshened up for the day, even though I barely got a couple of hours of sleep, I felt more energetic than ever!
Tomo told me a while ago that I was going to meet my new teacher at exactly 8:00 in the morning and to meet them outside the house. I wanted to be there nice and early to leave a good impression on my first proper teacher.
I grabbed Numa and hustled to the crib that the twins shared, I was surprised to see that Kuma wasn't there already, most days Tomo wakes up before dawn breaks and leaves the other twin in the crib. Thinking nothing of it, I took out some of the leftovers we had in the fridge and ate it for my breakfast, I wasn't allowed to cook yet so this was my only option for now. I only ate a little as I didn't want my stomach to be upset during the intense training I was probably going to do!
I heard Tomo come down holding Kuma in her right hand and Amaya in her left, she gave me a nod as I greeted her, no doubt quiet due to me pursuing ninja-related things today. She chided me for not waiting for her to come down and prepare breakfast but I paid it no mind, I was almost jumping out of my seat.
'Chakra… I'm gonna learn to use chakra today…'
Memories of the anime and all the fantastical, magical, badass things that even the most average ninja were capable of made the wait for my teacher even more painful.
Sasuke came downstairs looking as if he had just fought a dragon, the boy's clothes were a mess, there was a bit of dried drool on his face and he had dark circles around his eyes.
"Bad sleep?" I questioned the boy with a knowing smile.
"When Kuma grows up… I'm gonna punch him." Said Sasuke almost drawling over his voice, he sat down next to me and slumped over the table. Kuma had even woken me up once last night, no wonder Sasuke looks like he could fit in with a family of racoons right now.
Tomo got to work and whipped Sasuke awake, throwing him into the bathroom to get freshened up and ready for school.
I watched as all of this happened, staring at the clock with open eyes, mind sharp as I watched each tick get closer and closer to the promise of Chakra.
Sasuke had left, I ignored the envious look in his eyes as he left, he had heard of the "arrangement" and no doubt wanted in on the training; but since it concerned my secrets, Hiruzen had not allowed him to join.
Tomo had holed herself up in the kitchen, silently judging me as she sipped her coffee, honestly her blatant disregard for ninja stuff was more amusing than upsetting now.
The kids were sleeping, hopefully they would stay that way.
The clock was still ticking slowly… ah it's probably time for me to stand outside right? Nothing wrong with being early!
It was only 7:30 and there was still half an hour left but I got myself ready and walked outside to the front porch, waving goodbye to Tomo who reciprocated with a curt nod. With a smile on my face, I stood outside on the porch hoping to meet my teacher soon. I was thankful that the positioning of the window let me see the clock inside the house, even if barely.
'In just half an hour… I will begin my journey to become a fully-fledged ninja.' I thought with a determined focus as I re-examined the clock.
[7:40]
'20 more minutes, and I'll get to meet a real ninja of the Leaf! I wonder what kind of person they are!'
[7:50]
'I can't wait…' I thought, looking around nervously with a poorly restrained grin.
[7:59]
'Almost…' My heart was beating rapidly, I've never been this excited to meet someone before.
[8:00]
'It's time.'
I exhaled a deep breath that I was holding in, as nervous as I am, I need to remain cool, calm and collected to give my teacher a good impression, If I do, I can increase the chances of him taking me seriously as a student.
'Aoki, you got this.' I reassured myself.
[8:01]
'It's fine, he should be here soon…' I comforted myself as I saw the clock tick by our agreed-upon time.
[8:10]
'This is a ninja of the Leaf village, I'm sure he has some important tasks to do…'
[8:20]
'Maybe he ran into trouble? Hope he's ok…'
[8:40]
I was getting restless. By now I had stood outside the house for over an hour waiting for the man.
[9:00]
'He's pretty late… it's not Kakashi is it?' I thought, but I knew it was impossible. Kakashi only started taking in students much later to my knowledge, plus, his time is too valuable to spend on me.
[9:15]
I should've eaten more for breakfast… I'm hungry.
[9:30]
Tomo came outside and asked if I wanted to continue waiting for him inside, I shook my head and remained at my spot, he'll probably be here soon and I'm determined to make a good impression.
[10:30]
I wanna leave a good impression alright, on their face with my fist.
At this point I didn't care if they were a Jounin or the fucking Sage Of Six Paths, I was pissed. I'm gonna wait here as long as it takes.
[10:32]
I give up. I'm heading inside.
With a poorly restrained rage, I stomped away from where I was standing, silently grumbling about eating an early lunch and all but ran to the door when I was shaken by a sudden voice.
"Leaving already? Tsk tsk tsk…" a drawling voice spoke from behind me.
I whipped my head around to stare at the man who had suddenly appeared behind me. My eyes widened in shock as I realised that he was only inches behind me and had reached there without me noticing him.
I looked up at the man, the bottom half of his face hidden by a scarf he had draped around himself, his eyes turned to crescents as he did a small wave in my direction.
"Sup!" he sounded out.
Sup? Sup?! Over two hours late and you say fucking "sup"?!? Go sup yourself you piece of-
Ugh.
No way in hell was it a coincidence that he just appeared out of thin air the moment I gave up, he had probably been watching me the whole fucking time.
What kind of madman stalks a 5-year-old for hours at a time just to piss him off? Was this another one of the bullshit tests that ninja society seems to be so fascinated with?!
"..." I deadpanned at the man, my right eye twitching a little as I tried my best to form a smile, one appeared on my face, but as for the legitimacy of it, I couldn't tell you.
I tried to fix the smile but it wasn't working. Oh well, there goes the first impression.
"Sup…" I relented and waved back with a stiff hand.
The man nodded at my greeting and asked, "Ready to start your training? We're behind schedule…" he looked at his wrist with his eyebrows knitted.
'There's no watch there bastard!' I wanted to shout looking at his bare wrist, but I remained silent, I should do my best to salvage this meeting. Dickhead or not, he was still a golden goose that I couldn't abuse.
"... yeah, I'm ready," I said with a nod.
He smiled and gave me a thumbs up, "I'll inform the boss! Seeya in about… 5 minutes?" he said. Before I could answer-
*POOMF!*
The man exploded into a puff of smoke, every trace of his existence wiped from my sight.
I jumped back in shock and, I'm not ashamed to admit it, yelped a little. The smoke blew into my eyes as I stumbled back and looked at where the man stood just moments ago; only understanding what had happened after a few seconds passed.
'No fucking way! A shadow clone?!!?' I sat there, slackjawed at this development for a good minute before I got my bearings about me.
The anime didn't do it justice, the smoke itself was disorientating as hell, not to mention, that looked like a real human!
Enthralled at having seen my first jutsu, the next five minutes flew by, as I was still in shock from the shadow clone, I wasn't able to properly register that the man had essentially teleported in front of me until he lightly coughed, regaining my attention.
The man stood about 5'7 in height, with brown spiky hair and black eyes that had an annoying twinkle to them, to top off the ensemble was a green scarf twirled around the bottom half of his face, covering his mouth with the cloth.
'So this is the real body…' I thought, I could find no discernable differences between this one and the clone, he must've taken it to a high level.
'Makes sense why he used a clone, what kind of teacher would spy on their student for hours at a time? He probably left the clone there and went on with his day while I stood outside like an idiot…' I thought, growing annoyed again at the man.
'Wait... if I gave up sooner wouldn't he have come out then too?! I wasted my own time!'
Fortunately for him, he didn't give me much more time to stew and initiated a conversation.
"Heya! So my name's!..." he paused and stared at me, his face showing a concerned exoression.
"Hm… what should my name be?" The man asked, rubbing the area where his chin would be on his scarf.
...
'There's no way in hell he isn't trying to get on my nerves, this is probably another stupid test, probably one to test the limits of my patience.' I thought, doing my best to keep a political smile at the man's antics.
"Hm… I'm not sure… I can't think that well, I'm quite full now ya see? I guess that's one of the negatives of having a huge meal! So stuffed I can't think straight!" the man laughed with mirth in his eyes.
'Evil. This man is evil.' I thought, cracks had begun to form in my smile and I had no way to fix them, at this point, I don't think I wanted to.
"Well… since I'm too full, why don't you pick a name for me?" he asked me with a mischievous glare.
I was pretty close to fuming at this point but I noticed a golden opportunity.
Let's not waste this chance.
'Bitch is too on the nose… How about Shitface? Eh, I might get into trouble… Scrotumstank is another good one… ' I started thinking up ideas, I wanted one that *really* suited the man.
One to voice my displeasure silently, not enough to piss him off, but enough to give me satisfaction…
Oohh yeah.. That'll work.
I looked at the man with a smile that I didn't have to fake, it came as naturally to me as wanting to throw rocks at him
"How about Tokei? I like the sound of it!"
Tokei, meaning clock.
The man was silent for a second before furiously nodding his head, "Yes yes! A great name! Thank you! And young one, what is it that you go by?
"Aoki, just Aoki." I replied, annoyed at the mans lack of reaction to the name.
"Eh? Bit bland but that's ok! Alright! Let's go!" he said, moving closer to me and putting a hand on my shoulder.
"Go whe-"
*SHOOM!*
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[A/N: This is chapter 2/5 for the week, I'll post an extra chapter on Saturday if we hit 400 stones :)
Words: 2149
As always, stones, reviews and all other engagement are appreciated, especially reviews which will serve to increase the number of readers and improve my writing in the future, making this experience a better one for us all! Thanks for reading!]
P.S. What do you think of our mysterious man? Hint: He is not what he seems...
