8: "[Hello, User.]"

The day arrived. And it left. As did the days, weeks, and months following it leading up to her fifth birthday.

Seija learned an awful lot during that time. Some of it was hard to understand at first due to all the new words and terminology that her mother used while teaching her. Her father sadly couldn't really take part in this quality bonding time she spent with her mother. Sure he could stand there in the room with them but he could only solemnly sulk off at the sidelines, lamenting his inability to use chakra after his own failed awakening all those years ago.

At least Himiko promised him that he could teach Seija the most basic Taijutsu and Bukijutsu techniques, since those were some of the few things that he actually could teach her without putting either himself or his daughter at risk. He was rather good at both of them too - for a civilian level combatant - since they were really the only things he could train for the twelve-or-so years that he was confined within Danzo's lab after failing. But that wouldn't come until she was at least six years old.

As Himiko expected, Seija absolutely crushed the Leaf Sticking excercise. It only took her a single minute to figure out how to move her chakra to her forehead, and stick the leaf to it without blowing it away or tearing it apart.

Seija also spent that time figuring out the exact timings of her Byakugan using an actual clock, since she had forgotten to do that during the conversation with her mother the day before. The total times were 56 seconds before she had to release the technique, or else her eyes would start to strain and become damaged, according to her mother. And it only took about 15 minutes, give or take a few seconds, to become fully useable again. Apparently that was a faster healing speed than normal, which was apparently a good sign for the tiny little Senju and Uzumaki fragments of her DNA. They weren't about to start cutting her flesh to measure if she really did heal faster than normal though so that was mostly just hopeful thinking.

After she aced that test, her mother put her straight to work learning... writing. And mathematics. And history. And a class that Ryoku simply called 'common sense'. Yes, it turned out that alongside learning the actual interesting stuff, Seija had to learn normal child things as well. She did admit that it would be pretty embarrassing to be able to blast people away with Jutsu but not be able to properly read or write more than a few words. Heck the only word she could even spell for a long time was 'Nagato', since that was the only word she had ever really focused on back before her awakening. She didn't tell her mother that though. She hated being teased.

Yes, for all she loved her mother, she disliked how the woman could get... wishful at times. Especially when it came to her darling daughter's only childhood friend, the cute, shy, red-haired boy from across town. Ryoku, and even Seija and Nagato themselves all thought that was gross, though the kids didn't really understand why they felt that way.

She'd had a surprising amount time to spend with Nagato, what with all the training she'd been doing, and her mother arranged with Fuso and Ise that Nagato would go through his awakening at her house and then they could start training together, once he turns four.

Seija was glad that it was her own house that was chosen as the location. As much as she liked visiting Nagato's home, walking all the way over there through the near-constant rain was always miserable.

Anyways, between learning basic addition, how to write three word sentences, and what the heck a 'Hokage' was, Seija was starting to get really into learning the 'good stuff' as she put it. Hand signs, for example, were one of her favourite classes. The act of putting your hands together in a specific sign combination to weave chakra into intricate patterns capable of casting Jutsu was a marvel in her eyes. The first day she was directly shown them, roughly a week after learning their names and how to make them all without putting chakra into them, was also the first day her mother taught her about efficiency.

"Seija, watch closely. Tell me the names of the seals I'm about to use for this basic Clone Jutsu."

Seija watched with rapt attention as her mother made four seals, one after the other.

"'Tiger, Boar, Ox, Dog.'" Seija listed as a clone appeared next to her mother.

"Very good, Seija. Now, I'm going to perform the same Jutsu again, but watch this!" The first clone vanished.

Himiko performed the Jutsu again but this time it was faster, and not because her hands were moving any faster. There were fewer signs.

"Ram, Snake, Tiger... wait, what?" The clone had appeared again even though the signs were different, and there were fewer of them.

"Heheh, you see that, little Seija? This is what I mean by efficiency. The ability to cast Jutsus faster, and with a slightly lower initial chakra cost is an invaluable one. If you keep at it, learn all the patterns and how their effects change with the influence of your will, one day you will even..."

Six clones appeared around her with her only making one sign with her left hand.

"...Be able to do something like this effortlessly!"

Needless to say, Seija would endure any amount of educational torture if it meant that she could learn something like that. She was totally hooked.

- - - - -

It was quiet. The night of her fifth birthday. In a month's time Nagato would be able to join her in her glorious learning-journey to power.

'Why am I thinking that though... that I need to get stronger. Whenever I think about it I get that same feeling that I do from Nagato... and now it's gone even further.'

Seija was feeling strange. This particular feeling, on this particular night, was one she had only felt once before. In the burning hellscape of her awakening. The feeling of something in her mind reaching close to a breaking point.

'That day was really painful. I wonder why that memory flood never came back even when I thought about Nagato or Danzo? Is it because I wasn't in pain? Hmm... Nagato... Pain.'

'...'

'Wait a minute...'

The dam cracked.

But this time there was no sudden flood. Only a slight trickle in information. The barest amount to provide an understanding. And a voice from the deepest reaches of her mind - that she thought she had forgotten all about until this trickle of memories summoned it forth - paired with a glowing green screen appearing before her eyes.

"[Hello, User. Happy Birthday.]"

- - -

'Ok Seija, calm down. Breathe. Everything is fine. Ignore the rat-race that you just remembered that you were thrown into five years ago. Just ask him what's up.'

"[Apologies, User. I am able to read surface level thoughts like that. Would you like for me to simply not mention it?]"

Seija opened her mouth to speak, "Uh..."

"[You do not need to speak out loud. Your mind works just fine, User.]"

'Um, right. Hello, Great Firewall.'

"[Hello, User.]"

'What are you doing here?'

"[You have turned five years old and you have unlocked the most basic of your memories. Thus, I am here.]"

'Right. Yes. Sorry, I'm slightly panicking about the realisation of the existence of 99 other people who no doubt want to bend this world to their whims and that I'm inevitably going to have to compete against them if I want to survive in the long term.'

"[96 actually, User]"

She squinted at the system screen in front of her, 'Wait, what?'

"[Would you like to view the World Messages of the Global Network?]"

This was turning into a very strange night.