One Foot Forward [Private, Req. Shizuka]

[Kita Shiori]

Shiori stepped into the lunge, wrist flicking as she followed through on the throw, fingers releasing the bit of metal in her hands; which like a caged bird shot to freedom. There was a heavy thunk and an exhalation of breath as the academy student quested for the target. There, several paces away, a thick ridge of clotted dirt. And there, at its center, a daub of red paint. And also there, a hair too high, her kunai sticking weakly from the porous surface.

Her arm dropped to her side as she stepped backwards, no longer spread out like a starfish reaching for the sky. Mouth twisting in a moue of distaste the older girl flicked a lock of hair off her shoulder and approached the target. As she got closer she could see the kunai graveyard that was her practice lane, polished steel languishing all on their lonesome across the rocky scree. A few with their tips lodged into the earth, more sticking haphazardly from the edges of her target like a porcupine about to molt. One, somehow, and she couldn’t even recall the throw that had resulted in this, had wedged its way into the back of the target and with a lot of force too, as she had to lever it back and forth, loosening a whole lot of dried mud, before it would come free.

Collecting her assortment of kunai, she tucked the lucky one in her pocket and wiped the rest of them off. Okay, so maybe she wasn’t too great with target practice, but weapon maintenance had made a big impression on her. Shiori shuddered in remembrance of those poor bits of rusted metal her instructor had shown the class, more upset at the flagrant waste than the horribly detailed story they had been fed about what rusted tools meant in the field.

Returning to her post, a shallow x carved into the ground, she studied the target again. Shiori was well aware of the multitude of problems with her throwing technique, none the least of which was her poor conditioning which the teachers lamented over pretty much every day. It wasn’t her fault she’d not spent the last five years training to be a ninja like the rest of her rabid classmates, and to be truthful she’d much preferred her experiences to theirs. Not that anyone would ask her, or that she’d ever say something so easily misused.

If there was one thing Shiori did understand about the Academy culture, and it certainly wasn’t how any of this ninja magic worked, it was the concept of showing no weakness. Which was why she never complained when the teachers yelled at her, picking apart her lackluster skills, throwing the worst of the drudgework her way to ‘help’ her catch up to her peers. They were right, in some ways, it was a lot like polishing a stone, and she still had too many rough edges that had to be chipped away before she could find out whether she was fool’s gold or diamond.

Fumiko-sensei had derided her all morning, rather displeased with Shiori’s consistency in target practice. It wasn’t even a moving target, either, which seemed to upset Fumiko the most as she ranted about how many ways the enemy would have gotten to Shiori by the time she threw each projectile. It hadn’t really helped her jittery nerves, not the incredibly detailed ‘injury report’ nor the giggles of her classmates. It was no surprise really that Fumiko-sensei had instructed her to stay here and keep working until she figured herself out.

Originally two other classmates had stayed behind as well, lingering further down the practice field. They hadn’t been told to stay, though, and were mostly just reveling in the art or something like that. She kind of hoped one of them would trip, or at least miss the target occasionally, but instead they threw near perfectly for about half an hour before high-fiving and racing off to who knows where.

Shiori, stewing in her jealousy, had thrown most of the total misses during that time. As time dripped away she juggled the kunai in her hands and hoped she would catch up quickly. She really didn’t want to miss lunch again, but the idea of upsetting Fumiko-sensei was far scarier than a grumbling belly.

Back in her prepatory stance, Shiori set the kunai in her pouch and drew the lucky blade. Hefting it, feeling for the particular weight and balance that was so different from the old classroom practice blades, she offered up a quiet prayer to Raiden and threw.

WC: 768

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Whooosh

The kunai sailed through the air before slamming into its target quite gracefully. Having appeared on the side of the wooden square with its markings a second before the kunai had drilled itself into it, Shizuka hummed quietly to herself while studying the polished steel which hadn’t sunk into the wood. Her fingers were itching to touch it, and to lightly trace the edge to see if it was as sharp as it looked. But she refused to give into the silly desire and took a step back. It was only then that she noticed the scene around her. Out of the corner of her eye, at first, she could see the field, and soon realized that she had been damn lucky that the thing hadn’t hit her instead of its target.

Spread across the area were trails of dozens of kunais who had never even come close to the red spot. Admittedly what she saw was proof of some awfully clumsy work, but the bright haired student didn’t show it when turning to face the owner of this sharp piece of steel.

“May I?” She asked politely before tugging the kunai from its new home with a light flick of her wrist. It slid out easily, her finger held tightly onto the ending by curling into the ring. The sides of the little weapon were shining brightly in the afternoon sun. From what she could see the kunai basically looked unused. However, she somehow didn’t think that this was the first throw it’s ever been a part of.

“Nice throw over there,” genuinely encouraging the other student, she handed her the kunai. “and very nice.. polishing and -” pausing to try and find the right word she eventually awkwardly ended up saying what she thought that would fit the most. “sharpening, I guess. The edges look very neat.”

Tugged away beneath her other arm was a thin sketch book and an encyclopedia about trees and plants. For the most part of the afternoon she had been sitting in one of the trees a bit further down the training yard, reading in the encyclopedia and making drawings of the plants she liked. The essay on the Cloud’s history was coming slow, but the project about the flora was as good as done. With the drawings she just wanted to add to something unique to her work, besides, it gave her the excuse to spend time drawing when a class was scratched like today. As long as the Senju remained on the Academy’s ground until her next class - or the end of the school day - everything was alright. And so she had, until a bit after classes even, but the noise of kunais being thrown had eventually led her here.

“Senju Shizuka,” a small hand with elegant, pale fingers was offered to the girl whose hair reminded Shizuka of cotton candy. Now that she paid more attention to her, she thought to have seen her before. Perhaps even more than once.

Didn’t they have geography together?
Maybe.. maybe there were some other classes she had seen the pink hair in as well, right?

Briefly cursing her own sleepiness, she offered a tiny smirk which looked like a lazy grin. Well, perhaps it was. Though, there was nothing mean about it. “Nice to meet you.”

A look to the side showed her the mostly intact target. It’s where she wondered if Shiori could use a tip or two. Not that Shizuka was a professional at the art of throwing kunai. Still, she mostly managed to hit the target whenever it was required of her.

“You should pick if you want to throw with spin or without it, if you want to put spin on it, point the blade towards yourself to start with, if you just want to throw ‘straight’,” she used her fingers to make the invisible quotation marks in the air. “you have to hold it by the tail, bend your arm so the point is behind you, then straighten your arm, and make sure to let go only when the pointy end is directed at the target.”

Using her arm she tried to show how to, bend it behind her, then straightened it in front of her, opening her fingers as if she had let go of the kunai. Nothing happened, because there was nothing she could throw, but perhaps the idea of picking either the spin or the lack of it, would put Shiori on track.

**

 

[Kita Shiori]

Zeroing in on her target, Shiori watched with baited breath as her projectile slammed into the post. Whether through luck or sheer anxious force the kunai buried its tip into the wooden square, standing at proud attention unlike the all the earlier attempts. It still wasn’t very accurate, but hey, it was improvement. Just as Shiori was about to reach for the next kunai, a face appeared from behind the slump of dried mud that held her target in place, jade-green eyes in line with the blade.

Attached to the face was a girl, her lithe form stepping clear of the target as she continued to peer at the kunai Shiori had just lodged in her direction. Shiori, for her part, managed not to scream at the shock of a girl practically climbing out of the ground when she’d thought herself alone out here. Instead she swallowed rapidly, head cocked to watch the odd sort of fascination that flickered across the other student’s face. (And she was definitely a student; right age, right look, book tucked under one arm and no hitai-ate in sight.)
Her own face underwent a spasmodic transformation, surprise warring with embarrassment which finally lost to pure confusion. She accepted the kunai with good graces, clutching the lucky blade to her chest like it might grow feet and crawl off. Okay, taking stock of this odd occurrence, Shiori realized that the girl was no apparition or ghost and truly intended on… what was this, chatting?

“Uh, thanks…” the thirteen-year old fumbled at the kunai, letting the iron warm in her palm as she rubbed at the bridge of her nose. It felt a bit silly being complimented on her lackluster abilities, but there was no guile in the younger girl’s expression. Shiori wasn’t an idiot, she would take whatever she could get, even if it was empty flattery from a pre-teen.

When the girl didn’t disappear like she’d appeared, Shiori gave her a more piercing glance, shoulders stiffening. It wasn’t often that the other kids went out of their way to bully her, but it wasn’t uncommon either. She didn’t really know who this was and couldn’t remember exchanging words, caustic or otherwise, but Shiori wasn’t particularly well liked at the Academy and her first few months had taught her to be careful about strange acts of kindness.

The fumbled praise for her weapons was just this side of awkward, and Shiori wondered for the first time if this little girl was one of those ninja-brats who didn’t know how to talk about normal things. For a second that thought weakened her resolve, and she found herself shaking the proffered hand firmly and nodding along at the introduction. Senju, those were the plant people, right? If the girl came from a ninja family it’d explain the weird, well that, and the way she’d appeared out of thin air as if that was even a little bit polite.

Shizuka had yet to throw the one-two punch Shiori was waiting for, and she didn’t really enjoy assuming things about people, so side-stepping caution she gave her own name in return and smiled tentatively. “I’m Kita Shiori.”

The smile brightened, coming into full bloom as the other girl began to gesticulate with smooth practiced motions, explaining the different throwing techniques. It should have looked silly on a stick-thin girl like that, silly or just plain adorable, but there was a grace and adroitness to each individual gesture that caught Shiori’s attention. Yeah, no doubt about it - ninja-blood. Some people had all the luck. (Or all the trauma, she was still collecting data on this one.)

Lips quirking at the girl a full head and a half shorter than her acting like an instructor, Shiori nodded, accepting the corrections with good grace. “Is that so? I guess I was doing both at the same time, hahh.”

She shook her head in mock despair, eyes dancing merrily as she groaned pitifully, “I’ll never get this right! Just wait, once I graduate you’ll look at the paper and see that I’ve died from stabbing myself on the first mission. Then you can tell everyone you remembered meeting me when I was even worse!”

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Repeating the motion a couple of times, she made sure to mention that the pointy side had to look away from the thrower when you bent your arm backwards so during the throw later the spin wouldn’t happen. That way the blade should sink into the target neatly after covering the distance in a straight line. At least a straight line for now, Shizuka was still learning how to let the shuriken curve, not to mention the kunai. Hence, she kept quiet about that, figuring the teachers would be way better at explaining it when the time would be ripe for that.

“Oh, you will, don’t worry.” Nodding slowly because doing it fast cost energy she could use for other things, she then tilted her head a bit back to get a better look at Shiori who was quite a bit taller. Unsure if she was an unusually quick grower or simply older, Shizuka let her lazy smile cover her lips once again.

“Annnddd, stabbing yourself would still require some sort of coordination.” A spark of amusement could clearly be seen in her green eyes, then a low, harmless chuckle joined it. She didn’t mean it. “Don’t worry, I’m just joking.” An equally slow nod followed. Everything about Shizuka appeared as if she had just gotten out of bed. There was a warm aura around her, a sort of lazy afternoon sun- type of thing. While she hadn’t been sleeping in the tree, she might have had and would have looked the same.

“I think that you might need to throw with some more hmm resolve. Don’t let your mind keep you away from doing things, like, you seem to be afraid to miss, then you miss, that type of thing?” Blinking she shifted, unsure if her words made a lot of sense, she tried to gesture at the target with her other hand. This quickly resulted in the sketch book falling on the ground.

The slightly monotone voice followed with a confused “Whoops..”. One might really ask themselves how she was ever supposed to become a real ninja. Her motions were smooth, graceful, light, but oddly slow most of the time - probably nine out of ten. Whenever it was necessary she put more energy and effort into things, but picking up sheets wasn’t an emergency, it wasn’t anything exciting either.

Luckily the grass wasn’t muddy or wet, so as she crouched down to pick up the sheets, Shizuka felt relieved that she wouldn’t have to re-do the fallen pieces.

Stifling a yawn with the back of her arm, she sighed into elbow before closing the sketch book and getting back up. “Want to talk while we walk home? Or are you planning to stay here for a while longer?”

**

 

[Kita Shiori]

Shiori pressed her hands to her face, stepping backwards as if struck, “Oh, wow. Low blow, girl, low blow,” she cried out, peaking through her fingers while a grin curled at her lips. Normally a similar comment would have upset her, but normally a similar comment would have been paired with an ugly glower or a sneer. And Shizuka seemed too lazy to muster up more than a half-hearted shrug, those sleepy eyes sparking with amusement.

She wasn’t sure when the other shoe would drop, when Shizuka would realize she was talking to the reject-heap of the Academy, but this was kind of fun while it lasted. It had been a long time since she’d talked to another person like this. Usually her instructors didn’t appreciate the snark. They certainly never interrupted training or classes to go along with her self-deprecating jokes.

Tilting her head, bird like, Shiori cast a long look at the not too far away target. “Afraid, huh?” Oh, she knew what Shizuka meant. It wasn’t the sort of fear that curdled your blood but the quiet stealthy type that slowed down your thoughts and turned the world to syrup. Still, it stung a bit. Shiori didn’t like to be afraid, didn’t like to imagine herself as a fearful person. But maybe there was some truth to this observation. It still felt odd, prancing around with her kunai like a real ninja. Like she wasn’t just simple old Kita Shiori but something more, something respectable and half-formed. Some days she would find herself practicing something only to flinch when an adult came near, waiting for the rage that some peasant would dare touch a shinobi’s gear. The caste system didn’t apply as strongly to ninja, but she’d grown up in it, had come to terms with the fact that she was at the bottom, and it felt like someone had thrown her into icy water and was dragging her along behind the boat most of her days.

“Yeah, okay!” she nodded more excitedly, the Senju’s explanation starting to penetrate her thick skull. It wasn’t that Shiori never paid attention in class, it was just that a lot of that information flowed together into one thick sticky ball in her head. And instead of gentle corrections her teachers usually believed that someone had to figure this out on their own, something about weeding out the idiots and the inept. Fingering her kunai, she shifted her weight, nibbling thoughtfully on her bottom lip.

The dropped notebook was kind of ironic given the topic, but Shiori didn’t want to upset her new guide. Maybe she would appreciate the humor, but maybe not, she looked more tired actually now that Shiori was paying more attention. Shizuka scooped up her books without issue, and Shiori offered her a commiserating smile. “Oh yeah, we’ll make great ninja,” she quipped, more a mutter to herself because she just couldn’t help it.

Shrugging it off, the girl spun towards her target and called out to the sky, “Raiden-sama please help your sorry disciples!” Her elbow arced from behind the hipbone, a full curve as she waited for her hand to be forward facing and in line with the target before releasing. The little bit of metal whizzed through the air, hitting the target hard and burying itself to the widest apex of the blade, about half way in.

“Haha!” Shiori jumped out of her skip, leaping into the air as she whooped. Eyes wide, skin flush, she hurtled down the lane to grab her lucky and now divine, apparently, kunai. Not a bullseye, not even a direct hit, but man this was the first time she had intended and succeeded at hitting the target.

Heart thumping in her throat, she turned back to Shizuka with a soft smile. That explained things, then, the invitation. The Senju just hadn’t realized who she was talking to. The afternoon had been nice, even if it was a one-shot deal. She could appreciate this, she would. “Well, I can talk while we walk to the outer courtyard, but that’s as far as I go.” She put one hand on her hip, lips quirking, “I live here, in the dorms, like the rest of us plebeians.” Maybe too far, but she wasn’t upset, either.

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Hit

“See, we will make great ninja, in fact, we’ll make great ninja jealous.” Widely grinning while making sure that her books wouldn’t escape the thin space between her side and arm, she chuckled again when Shiori actually jumped into the air. To see such joy being triggered by something so small like hitting a target, well, it was interesting to say the least. It also had Shizuka wonder if Shiori was a bit like her, feeling satisfied with the less complicated things, unlike many others of their age.

Throwing a look to the side to see whether there were teachers around which could potentially be supervising Shiori’s training she was happy to see that nobody was there. It appeared that the taller girl was free to leave, or that’s what the little Senju hoped for. Because this pink haired person felt light and refreshing, like a pleasant breeze. The harmless smiles Shiori showed, the easy-going nature she seemed to have, the clear surprise on her face she hadn’t hidden, and most importantly the lack of arrogance when it came to training appealed to Shizuka’s relaxed nature.

Another thing that appealed to her was the idea of sleeping so close to the school. Slightly surprised that Shiori lived on the school grounds, she mouthed a quiet ‘woah’. “I’ve never been there to be honest.” Giving the other direction a look she hummed to herself. Hopefully Shiori didn’t think that she meant for her to take her to the dorms, because, well, she didn’t want to be a burden. Knowing from herself that she didn’t always want to have company Shizuka assumed that others needed their own time and space as well, and having some stranger hang around your room wasn’t the way to get any of it.

“Sleeping at school,” she mumbled, eyeing the area, “that’s really handy. Man, I would be able to sleep longer in the mornings..” Then, her eyes widened a bit, dreamingly staring at the end of the courtyard. It took her a couple of seconds to get rid of the idea of asking her parents to let her stay at the dorms.. Home was still home, even if you had to help out your parents and travel back and forth every day.

“Does that mean you can’t leave the area without any adult supervision?” Tilting her head to the side but only by a little, like a cat that was listening but not really turning around because whatever was making the noise wasn’t worth the time, she watched a single student move across the field. It was nobody she knew, so she didn’t bother. All of her attention went back to Shiori.

“Want to go chill at the bridge? You can show me which dorm you’re in on the way out, if you want to.” That should do it, right? No pressure on Shiori, yet her own curiosity would get satisfied by a quick glance in the direction of the dorms’ entrance. Perhaps she would even get a look on the right window.

Setting out toward the buildings, she put her hands in the jacket’s pockets, pressing the left arm to her side. The books stayed, she sighed happily. Then her green eyes curiously drifted toward the other student. “Do your parents live far away?”
**

 

[Kita Shiori]

“That’s the spirit!” Shiori smirked, her own heart still fluttering with unexpected success. She enjoyed poking fun at her lack of skill, it was that or roll over when everyone else did, but that didn’t mean she really liked being bad at these things. People like Fumiko-sensei called her lazy, talking about how far behind she was from everyone else her age, how much she had to make up for. Shiori knew, logically, that Fumiko-sensei was just trying to prepare her, the best she could, but it was never pleasant to stew in her own mistakes.

The idea of being a good Shinobi – good enough to make others look up to her, want to be like her, well that was a far cry from her goal of just surviving. It was a silly dream, perhaps, but a nice one. Like cherishing the summer breeze despite the knowledge that it could never stay. Tilting her head back she glanced sidelong at the younger ninja-in-training. Somewhere along the line her reserve had crumbled, fallen like a drawbridge retracted into cool shadow. Oh, Shiori knew that the other girl was still fully capable of hurting her, verbally or otherwise – but she wasn’t as positive that such an act was imminent. It might be a risk, to savor this, but she was not so risk-averse as to cower from the chance at finally connecting with another student. Call her stupid, or optimistic, Shiori would just shrug.

The laconic Senju seemed to perk up at talk of the dorms, scanning the nearby buildings like she was searching for treasure. It was not the reaction Shiori had expected, and she found her eyes crinkling as she smiled more brightly down at the stick-thin child. “Ah, you probably don’t want to change that now, I’m afraid,” she warned, dramatic shadows echoing in the timbre of her voice. Then Shiori leaned closer, her voice a stage-whisper, “Those other children are a bit rabid, like territorial spirits. They’re as apt to attack as to wait and see.”

Straightening, Shiori pleated her hands before her, the picture of simple innocence. It was funny, to have your perspective upended like this, to realize that a place of such loathing could be another person’s enthralling mystery. She wasn’t about to show Shizuka the dorms, if not the least of which because they were off-limits to non-borders, but the way the Senju appeared so curious soothed a bit of her defensiveness.

She laughed, startled by Shizuka’s musings on the advantages of the dorms, her eyes wide as she gasped through the uncontrollable shakes. Palms pressed to her lips, Shiori doubled over, face turning red as the laughter just kept flowing. Her stomach cramped, lungs gasping for air, and finally she wiped at the corners of her eyes and sighed in appreciation. “Oh my, I never thought of it that way…” Shiori was usually up and out of the dorms before dawn, occupied with some extra training or punishment, and she’d never noticed if everyone else really did get to sleep in more. She would have to ask, next time she came across a receptive mood.

She began to reign in her breathing, little chuckles rumbling forth each time her thoughts circled back to the absurdly cheerful observations of her peer. Once she was under better control, Shiori pulled a polishing cloth from her sleeve and began to work at the edges of her kunai, stalling casually as she straightened her thoughts out. Never had she been the recipient of an invitation to ‘hang’ as the young kids called it. Even on her first few weeks here, when she’d been bright and new and everyone had wanted to get to know her, had there been a student interested enough in the older gawky girl to extend such an offer. Well, there had been interest, but more of the competitive kind.

Shiori really wanted to say yes. It was a tiny urge, a feckless desire that smoldered under her ribcage. What’s the harm, her animal brain chanted? What’s the harm? It sounded so nice, and Shiori knew instinctively that the reality would be just as sweet as that imagined. But there was Fumiko-sensei to worry about, and her afternoon catch-up work. She couldn’t easily claim to Fumiko that she had fulfilled her instructions, and her teacher would be sure to hunt her down or enact revenge at a further point if Shiori didn’t follow the rules now. Besides which, unlike most of the students living on campus she was still under a probation of sorts. No one had ever bothered to explain the whys to her, nevertheless Shiori knew it was due to Junichiro’s presence in Kumogakure. She wasn’t supposed to know any of that, was supposed to think, perhaps, her confinement to the Academy was so she could catch up on all those missed years. Just another goad to improve.

It was that thought, the mental image of Shiori being prodded at all sides like a disobedient piece of livestock, that spurred the rebellion. She was always in trouble no matter what she did, wouldn’t it be nice for it to be justified for once? Swiping the soft bit of fabric across the blade one last time, staring into the perfect sheen, Shiori grinned at her new compatriot and gestured expansively towards the courtyard. “Sure, let’s do that,” she hurried, falling into step with the other child, leading her along the twisty exterior path that would pass along the outermost wall of the dorms.

Humming softly, Shiori pointed out a few landmarks the Senju might not be aware of, giving lofty and over the top descriptions for each domestic building. Most of the day students never came around this side of the Academy, penned as they were near the classrooms or training grounds. It wasn’t so much off-limits as it was uninteresting, an expanse of stone and smooth wood that formed military style bunks, a cafeteria, and some bland office spaces. From the outside it was impossible to tell what lurked within the buildings so Shiori did her best to elaborate, smirking as they tromped through the rocky scree in a very roundabout way to the courtyard and Academy exit.

“And that, my dear, is the hallway of no return, where the intrepid few go to have some ‘alone time’ in the various nooks and inevitably are never heard from again,” she pointed lazily towards a covered pathway, connecting one of the bigger halls to another dorm space. It was an out of the way connection so most people only went there to find some privacy. In pairs. “In the lore it is whispered that the wild and ferocious Tatsuki-sensei can be found stalking the hall at all hours looking for students caught in ‘behavior unbecoming of young ninja’ and leading them away to their doom.” Her hushed whisper shifted abruptly to a rather spot-on mimicry of Tatsuki-sensei’s dry tone, the instructor famous for his diatribes over decorum and his unnerving skill with a short-sword.

“Yeah, they live really far away,” she answered the polite inquiry as to her parents, a flicker of sorrow quickly squashed in favor of bland nonchalance. It wasn’t a lie. Junichiro was separated by things stronger than distance, close in proximity but as unreachable as if he still lived at the mountain shrine. And her unknown mother was living across the veil of the dead, which was pretty far away if Shiori thought about it. Turning the question around, she found herself truly curious about Shizuka’s life, “And your family? You live with them in town, right?” What would that even be like? A town-house? An apartment maybe? Or if they were one of those rich old-blood types, maybe even a clan manor all to themselves?

As they finally came around to the front, having passed the back-side of several classroom structures, Shiori finished her impromptu tour and glanced casually over her shoulder. No teacher in sight and only a few other students coming in or out of the main building. The coast was as clear as it might ever get. Smiling mischievously at Shizuka, she rolled her shoulders and headed for the gate. “So where’s this bridge of yours?”

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Waiting patiently for those rebellious locks of a fiery shade to join her, Shizuka wondered if the girl didn’t really want to leave the area but was too polite to refuse the invitation. Not many wanted to hang out with a stranger after a day of hard work. Thing was, she hadn’t been working hard in the physical sense, at least not today. Hence, she had plenty of energy left to climb constructions should she want to. Some things were worth the hassle, and the view she planned to show Shiori certainly was.

“Sweet,” the word was accompanied with a curl of her lips when the taller student fell into pace with her. A slow one, probably way too slow for Shiori considering she did have longer legs. Unfortunately for the older girl she would have to get used to the sauntering if she planned to keep Shizuka as company. The little ninja to be was very cat-like. Agile when necessary but sleepy and slow for the rest of the day. Currently it was ‘the rest of the day’, but soon they would get to climb a little.

For now there was some time to enjoy Shiori’s improvised guiding tour. It was kind of fun all things considered. Shizuka had never looked at some of the buildings she was shown now. Passing them once in a while she had been too busy with her own business or the idea of getting wherever she was heading - either some place nice or to classes she didn’t want to be late to - to actually think about what might be playing out behind those walls.

With curious blinks she strained her neck to get a better look at the hall. “Alone time?” Quite innocent, and slightly confused, she only got the hint when more explanation followed. The behavior bit made sense.. Kissing, ew. Shizuka tried not to show her aversion for something those older than her were sometimes fascinated with. She really had no idea why. Drool was slimy.. kisses were- she shook her head, leaving the topic where it was. That’s where the family matter came in handy.

“That sucks,” she nodded, but didn’t linger. If Shiori wanted to share more she probably would. Besides, many students didn’t appreciate being comforted in any way, because they thought that the act made them look weak. Admittedly Shizuka was, at times, quite stubborn herself.

“and yeah, I do, in fact, you’ll be able to see the roof of my house from the bridge I was talking about.” Quite excited to change the topic and get rid of the odd expression on Shiori’s face, she nodded and motioned toward the open gate. Making others sad would cost more energy to solve the issue later on than to keep them cheerful from the start, according to Shizuka.

Mirroring the mischievousness coming from her fellow student she grinned. “This way!” And the duo was out of the gate a moment later. Heading down the street she had them turn to the right, then right again, following in the direction of the market before trailing off more to the side.

“It’s one of the older constructions, I’m not even sure if they use it a lot nowadays. It leads to a patch of land with three houses on it, only one of them is occupied. The inhabitant is an old man, a former shinobi. His family has moved to the other side of the village, but he feels better at his old home.” Shrugging, she pointed into the direction where the path was leading. With some bushes and naked trees on the side, the road gradually became rougher to climb. Steeper sides came up mere minutes after they had left one of the side streets.

“Think he’s the only reason why the bridge is still maintained, but it’s cool.” Happily pointing toward the stone and wooden construction without paint - unlike many other bridges across the Cloud, she didn’t step onto it to cross it. Instead, Shizuka placed the books on a nearby, flat rock, put another rock on it, then headed to the side of the bridge.

“Better view down here!” Swinging one leg over the railing, she was gone two seconds later. Only four fingers clinging to the railing betrayed that she hadn’t jumped into the cloudy mess beneath.

Setting her feet on one of the side balks, she got a hold of a smaller one before letting go of the railing. With some practiced motions she followed the balk, crouched, grabbed one of the many ropes that were there, then used it to swing from the bottom right to the middle. There was a platform there, connected to many more platform that seemed to be a part of the build which made the bridge possible. They could serve well to sit on while enjoying the view. The wind caressed her face, she leaned back, the platform was big enough for four people to sit on, so Shiori would have more than enough space to climb onto.

Turning to the side, Shizuka placed her hands in front of her face and made a cup. “You coming??”

**

 

[Kita Shiori]

The more she heard about this bridge the more her excitement mounted until Shiori was practically skipping alongside Shizuka. They probably looked rather silly, what with Shiori trying to reign in her double-step so as not to outpace the much calmer and shorter Senju. She wasn’t always this excited, outwardly, but the fresh breeze rolling off the cliffsides carried with them the scent of snow and as far as she could tell no one had even glanced her way as the two trainees exited the Academy.

It seemed strange to Shiori, that a city she thought of as endless and richer than gold could have more run-down areas than not. She had never seen the outskirts of Kumogakure except for perhaps the night of her arrival, which had been cloaked in thick clouds and air so frozen even her hardy mountain soul had taken comfort inside the supplies cart. It was a relief that her new home showed such shades of reality, not just the shiny opulence of city life but also the scraggly cliff-sides and now an ancient bridge.

Shiori felt like this mystery old man was some form of kindred spirit. Shucking the trappings of society and city living to remain in his childhood home. She wondered if he got any flak for it, if there was some uppity administrator sort who came to complain about having to take care of the bridge just so one lone man could stay at home. In her mind, the guy would just nod, his face crinkled like the sides of the mountain itself, before showing said paper-pusher the door. He would be implacable, like all old people, feet pressed firmly against the dirt never to be pushed from his home.

Nodding along to Shizuka’s story, she paused wide-eyed as the bridge itself finally came into view. Rusty metal forked the sky, panels of teak wood laying stalwart across the chasm like soldier’s settling down to die. It was the most beautiful piece of engineering she had ever set eyes on, and Shiori would have thrown herself at the beast of a bridge even if Shizuka hadn’t mentioned that it was carefully maintained to this day.

That was when Shizuka jumped off into the ravine without a backwards glance, disappearing from view entirely, and dashing any admirable thoughts the student had been entertaining. Shiori shouted, what she didn’t know, lurching towards the edge of the mountainside with her heart hammering in her chest like a beast seeking freedom. An oddly calm thought pressed at her, in that moment of uncertainty, a remembrance of the way the Senju girl had appeared from nowhere earlier in the day. Was she a spirit then, and not a real girl? Had Shiori been talking to a specter this whole time, some bored yurei come to show someone her own death? Shivering, covered up and down in goosebumps, Shiori stumbled to the base of the bridge and scanned the foggy depths of the chasm for a broken body or perhaps worse, a winking ghost.

Instead, her head jerked around to blink gobsmacked at those pretty green eyes, sitting quite nimbly and rather whole of body in the cradle of rope and metal girding that held the bridge up. Relief flooded her system like medicine in a hospital and she sat back on her heels and giggled through her teeth. “Raiden’s Kneecaps! What was that! Don’t do that again, you almost killed me, Shizuka-chan!” Her rebuttal was meant to be sharp, demanding, instead she could barely get it out through the laughter as she swung down to join the crazy girl.

Huddling close, way too pleased by the presence of the Senju’s body heat, she shook her head in woeful abandon. “Geeze, forget falling on my own kunai, I’ll be lucky to graduate without a heart attack at the rate you’re going.” Shiori pressed the back of one hand to her forehead, all dainty lady-like distress, the other gripping a metal girder as she muttered. She was too pleased to be angry, too shocked to be upset, but Shiori filed this away and later she would remember that this was the first sign she had of Shizuka’s flirtation with death.

 

[Senju Shizuka]

She soon found out that laughter fit Shiori quite a bit. It was something the other girl did a lot too, and it seemed to come natural to her. At least more than to Shizuka whose lips often curled up, but the movement stayed there and never reached down to her chest. The lack of energy put into showing great amusement, aside from her eyes sparkling every time she enjoyed something, was the reason why her chuckles were rather quiet. Peaceful, in her opinion. Just the way she liked things to be when she had some time off.

“You’ll be fine,” a wave of her hand showed that Shiori shouldn’t worry about it. “besides, even if I had jumped, there are so many ropes here to hold onto. There,” she pointed toward a thick one, which was going much farther than the ones around them. “then there, oh, and the baulk over there,” More pointing, more nodding. “there is also a piece of the cliff touching the bridge over there, but you can’t really see it now, it’s too cloudy.”

Registering bits of warmth somewhere near, she then noted that Shiori was really close to her. No, she didn’t care about that, she just wondered if the other girl was afraid of heights. But then it hit her that not everyone liked the cold as much as she did. The wind here, without any real walls to protect them, was quite harsh. Brown locks moved in the refreshing breeze that tugged at her jacket’s sleeves. The cold was sweet. She turned her head, briefly studied her fellow student, and then made a decision.

“If you’re cold you can have my jacket, I don’t mind. Though, your arms will be a bit too long.” Grinning, she went with whatever Shiori decided, then pointed toward the thicker rope going around a rusty baulk. “I’ll loosen that, then we can climb down a little, go closer to the center, it might give us a better view.. unless you would rather stay here, I’m not sure if my home will be visible from there either. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t.”

With a shrug and a glance over the edge of the platform they sat on, she tried to estimate how low they could go without losing sight of the wider horizon. There was the cliff which would eat away at the side, but that wasn’t a problem, her house was closer to the center than the side. Worst case she could just point into its direction. Then the two ninja to be wouldn’t need to clamber all over the bridge in this fairly cold weather.

“Oh!” A large cloud passed beneath them, looking like the foam of a waterfall, she hung a bit more over the edge. “Maybe we’ll be able to see it from here!” Enthusiastically gesturing at Shiori to join her, Shizuka waited for the rest of the white mass to float by before pinpointing the location of the red roof. “See that house with the red on it? That’s the far neighbor.. eh, go up about two, yeah, there, our roof is this grayish color.”

Alright, there wasn’t much to see from all the way up here, but at least Shiori had an idea of where Shizuka was staying at night. As if that was of any importance, the youngest Senju realized with a mental facepalm. By now the pink haired student probably thought that the Senju was just weird. ..well, she was, a bit.

Leaning back to huddle in the bridge’s crooks like a koala in a tree, her attention swung back to Shiori. To not have noticed someone so easy-going and cheerful while having class together was an art on itself. Sensei would probably whack her on the head for lacking any intel gathering skills. Of course he didn’t need to know. Shiori, with her sweet laughter and funny comments, Shizuka would keep to herself. Especially because this discovery might make Academy so much more fun. All she would have to do now was getting rid of the bullies.Then the Academy would really become a walk in the park.

“What do you like to do? Like.. I like to read, sometimes I like class too, hmm but not the sitting and listening type of class, those make me quite sleepy.”

**

 

[Kita Shiori]

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head once more as the Senju child clambered all over the rickety bridge pointing out various avenues of escape had she actually fallen off the cliffside. Only an idiot would be so carefree about plummeting to your death, but then again perhaps this was one of those benefits of growing up ninja? Trusting in your often-supernatural ability to get out of difficult situations? Back home everyone had given the mountains the wary respect they deserved, knowing one stumble, one broken leg, and you might just be out of commission for the rest of your life. A poorly healed injury meant no means of producing an income, no way of scurrying across the steep terrain or completing daily tasks. Often, in those cases, people would pray to Raiden and eventually wander off to let the cliffs finish what they had started – rather than become a burden on their families.

Shiori was shaken from her musings as the other girl leaned closer, breath misting faintly in the sere breeze as the younger trainee mistook her closeness for discomfort. The thirteen-year old just grinned, waving one hand whimsically through the air as she smiled away the pro-offered coat. “I just wanted to make sure you were still alive!” she shouted, raising her voice to be heard over the stiff breeze now that they had settled at the middle of the undercarriage. “I’ve got the mountains in my blood, you city folk haven’t felt cold until you’re staring straight into a blizzard come up over the Rashin Pass.”

All of which being true, it was still surprisingly chilly clinging to the underbelly of the bridge. The wind cut like a knife, spearing her flesh and sending her clothes whipping wildly like white-flags. Shiori stuck close to the Senju, not begrudging the added body heat, despite having satisfied her earlier curiosity as to the girl’s realness or not.

Cocking her head, Shiori squinted into the roiling cloud cover, tilting her head just so to avoid the weak rays of sunlight. She followed along with Shizuka’s finger, slowly making shapes out of the distant blocky objects. The splash of red was a big help, most of the other rooftops some dull variation on black or brown and entirely too easy to miss from their current vantage point. The blotch of grey materialized as if from the mists themselves, and Shiori sucked on her teeth as she let out a pleased whoop, “Yeah! I see it, that one over there, right?” Leaning forward, she gesticulated sharply, awash in the other girl’s excitement.

That feeling from earlier, the pinched sort of nostalgia, came back full force and Shiori ducked back into semi-cover while trying to dissect the source. She couldn’t help but glance again and again at the rooftop, staring hard as if it was about to grow legs and begin to dance about. She was kind of glad to see that Shizuka had an actual house to claim, a place where her parents and siblings, maybe even cousins, all lived together in one big constellation of Senju growth. There would always be something going on, the warm smell of rice rising through the floorboards and the lull of conversation.

Caught in her swirling thoughts once more, Shiori shook free only to watch as the little Senju turned that cat-like attention onto her full force. Shizuka had been keeping up a steady rate of conversation, but this was the first time she had stared so intently, like a hunter sizing up their dog and weighing what trotted along at their side. Blinking, Shiori suffered a brief concern that the other girl was about to push her off the bridge or something, maybe find her unsuitable for further conversation, before Shizuka simply lobbed another casual inquiry her way as if nothing had changed.

The perennial smile pricked at her cheeks, Shiori fighting off a grin at the picture of Shizuka sleeping through class, head resting on a desk full of sunbeams. Stretching out so that she was less hunched over, back resting against a steel girder, Shiori hummed. “I like class too, it’s interesting to learn all these new things. Even the lectures are fun, because I never knew any of this was even possible.” That awe still shook her to her bones, every day when she realized she wasn’t just a civilian scurrying amongst a crowd of ninja but training to become one of them herself.

“I used to…” she bit herself off half-way, staring down at Shizuka as her thoughts raced. Shiori had yet to really talk to anyone at the Academy about her past life. Those who cared tended to assume what they wanted, and the rest never spared her a glance to begin with. As for her instructors, she was always afraid of one of them stumbling onto the fact that she new where Junichiro was staying, so she’d kept as quiet as a spider these past two years, spinning thread to hide her earlier self away from her bruised and calloused new form.

“I used to smith. Metal work, you know?” Shiori tilted her head, pausing to be sure the other girl knew what she was talking about. Her gaze went back to the grey rooftop, reassuring herself it still existed. “I used to do that a lot, mostly just little stuff. We always needed nails. Well, everyone always needs nails,” her tone became one of long suffering, warming like a puff of breeze as she reminisced. “But it’s been a while, now. Mostly I don’t have time for hobbies.”

Her faraway eyes came back around, one hand waving towards the arm that had earlier held a sketchbook, “You draw, don’t you? Is that for class, or because you like to?”

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Pleased to have shown Shiori her home, sort of, Shizuka curiously listened to what her friend had to say about her free time and the classes she liked. Of course the little Senju was also interested about her home and where she came from, but still vividly remembering the brief sadness that had crossed the girl’s face when her parents had been mentioned, she didn’t want to ask too much about it. In fact, she didn’t want to bring up the topic unless Shiori herself would decide to do just that.

Shizuka was old enough to know, and understand, that some people found it rather hard to split from their family in order to attend the Academy or to work and live elsewhere. Unsure how hard it would be for her to deal with such a situation, she tried to be kind to people when feelings regarding family were involved. Especially when she liked them. The ones closest to you were the ones most important, and that’s why they were not to be hurt, in any way. Mom had told her that much, and she believed it with her whole heart.

It’s probably why she dumbly blinked while wondering if Shiori was regretting joining the Academy. To be far away from home, from those you cared about, well, it had to weigh down on you. All that stress on your mind had to push your classes and training downward, right?

Am I weak? - The thought had her freezing in place. Was she wondering about luxury which many of the elder Shinobi no longer had? - Her fingers gripped tighter around the bridge’s skeleton. She seemed to grow slightly anxious and a bit angry, but the feelings passed. Together with the frown they melted when sun rays touched her face. Squeezing her eyes to protect them from the bright light, she shifted a bit, out of the sun.

“That sounds awesome, to be honest.” Nodding, with the eerie feeling now entirely gone, she wondered about what it would have been like to make her own weapons. Shiny, hard steel to cut opponents with. Sneaky senbon, little, deadly kunai. Perhaps a spear for long distance, or a lot of shuriken to take into battle. The ideas had Shizuka’s green eyes glitter with excitement.

“Yeah, I do like to draw. When I can, like this time, I try to combine it with class. Makes the tasks we have to do less dull.” Offering a shrug to show that classes weren’t all that exciting, she then gasped as if discovering a new type of species. Moving a bit closer to Shiori, she found herself bringing up her hand, extending it between them as if she was about to grab an invisible spider hanging from the baulk above them, then closed her hand.

“Imagine if you could bring to life the sketches I make! We could open up an armor store for Shinobi and amateurs.” Suddenly, the excitement died as quickly as it had appeared. “We would need money for a place.. and for materials..” A heavy sigh, it looked like their hobbies wouldn’t make them independent and self-sustaining any time soon. But at least the idea was there. Who knew what the future would bring.

“Oh, not to offend you, but I’ve always thought that those doing smith work were.. you know, beardy, bulky men. You don’t look like either of them.”

 

[Kita Shiori]

Shizuka’s cat-like stare softened somewhere along the way, the younger girl’s gaze flitting off towards the clouds as she listened to Shiori’s responses. It was a relief, this return to a former state, but something in the girl’s rigid shoulder blades made Shiori wonder if the Senju was upset. She took her time studying the other student, noting the clenched fingers, but also the almost insouciant slouch and the way the younger girl seemed to perk up as they talked about smithing.

Shiori was used to village children, who held little awe for menial labor unless it was their own. She grinned pleasantly, eyes alight with a merry glint, as the Senju took to the idea of metal working like it was as foreign and exotic as ninja had been to Shiori. Perhaps these two groups were not as dissimilar as she had first thought. Class might always separate them, and therefore culture, but Shizuka behaved much as any other child would when faced with a new friend or unusual subject.

“It is pretty awesome, I suppose,” her airy brag was all laughter and flashing teeth, something like pride and humor clasping hands around her heart. Ah, but spirits, it had been too long since she had felt like this! Her previous thoughts returned with a vengeance as the Senju complained about boredom, the thought rather like a lightning bolt to the face. So far, even when Shiori advertised her civilian background like a blatant flag, the clanned ninja hadn’t so much as blinked in dismay or drawn back in disgust. In fact, Shizuka was treating her like one did someone you liked. As a potential friend, even. And she had been since they first met that morning.

Mouth rounding out in a startled moue, she held perfectly still as the Senju focused laserlike at a space just above her right shoulder. “What is it?!” she gasped between clenched teeth, unwilling to move if it might startle the danger that had caught Shizuka’s attention like this.

The girl’s careful movements, inching closer on her knees as her eyes never once wavered, only sought to heighten Shiori’s fear. Was there some strange beast she didn’t know about lurking on Kumogakure’s bridges? Or maybe a poisonous snake or insect? Was it already touching her, or just right behind her? She could almost feel the electric presence, the hair on the back of her arms rising as Shiori held her breath.

Shizuka snapped her hand closed, a tight fist only a few inches away from Shiori’s ear, and the older girl let out an undignified shriek and skuttled away from the metal bearing she had been leaned up against. Almost knee to knee with the Senju, she cast a glance back, only to stare in confusion as the other began to blather on about plans for some shop? Her heart thumped in her chest, ready to break free and beat the child about the face, as Shiori slumped forward and began to shake.

Adrenaline tugged at her nerves, shoulders twitching as she pressed her hands to her cold cheeks. Like an arrow loosed from a bow she shot upright, her face white under clenched fists. “You! I can’t believe you did that to me! I thought there was a yurei come to steal my face or at least a spider!” Shiori screeched, her high voice ripped away by the wind. As the panic at her impending poisoning or spiritual demise floored out, she found herself leaning forward while laughter bubbled up from some deep well.

“Raiden’s earlobes! You… we… I just…” words became too much, and the shrine-girl gave in to the laughter. Face tinged pink, she shook her head, once, twice, thrice, before slinging her arm around the other girl’s shoulder. “I swear, you are going to give me a heart attack for real.”

Amused eyes took on a brighter sheen as Shiori rested her chin on the forearm she had wrapped around Shizuka. Staring back at that placid but excited gaze, she huffed. “We could always just save up our mission pay. We might be at it for a while though.”

The Senju was like a kitten more than a cat, her mind switching tracks as fast as she pounced, and Shiori just grinned deeper at the non-sequitur. “You should see Junichiro, then. He couldn’t care less about his appearance but let him grow a beard and suddenly the whole world is ending.” She laughed again, all silvery mirth, remembering how her father used to scurry around looking for a straight razor whenever he finally glanced at himself in a mirror after a long stretch of work.

 

[Senju Shizuka]

So far they had been all laughter and grins, lit eyes and hurting cheeks, but then she had unwillingly startled her fellow student. Shizuka hadn’t meant to scare her or anything, she had just been lost in her imagination. The dreamy state had her show her enthusiasm in an unusual way. One Shiori didn’t appear to be appreciating.

Paling when being yelled at by the taller kid, Shizuka stumbled over her words. All of them were lost in the harsh wind that was beating their huddling forms. Wide-eyed, confused, and slightly ashamed or her own actions, she swallowed in silence, then tried to apologize again. This time at least she didn’t stammer.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, I’m sorry.” Looking lost and desperate, she gestured at the air around them, wondering how to explain something she had done without thinking. Luckily, by the time she had found her words, Shiori was already laughing again. The older girl even went as far as to perform some sort of odd hug. Which Shizuka took as a sign of forgiveness.

Gradually regaining her color she sighed with relief. With that came a stream of confidence which allowed her to joke once again. “I didn’t expect you to be afraid of ghosts..” Her little smile stretched into a wide grin. She laughed, obviously teasing her newfound friend.

“Guess we’ll have to graduate fast then, and earn more..” Nodding, she realized that it was the first time in a while she had even spoken about the graduation. Most people didn’t think about the payment when talking about their future headband. It’s why her own thoughts caught her somewhat off guard. She shook them off. It was too early to bother herself with it right now. Maybe in a month or two, she silently told herself.

“Who’s Junichiro? You’ve been working with him?” As curious as ever, she shifted in her new position -having slid back into the ropes- and let them swing back and forth a bit. It was a comfortable way to make use of the wind tugging at them. She liked it. One could see it as a hammock (a dangerous and silly one, but one regardless).

“My parents are shinobi, dad’s family has its roots in Konoha, but that’s from a long time ago. Mom’s side is Kumogakure to the very bone.” Laughing, she stretched a bit, eyes on Shiori when a particularly hard gush of wind hit her from the side.

One second she was laughing, swinging cheerfully, the next one she could hear an awkward crack which didn’t bode well. Before her mind had processed whatever had happened, she found herself being flung into the air. Ropes uncoiling after the baulk above her had given its last breath. She fell, bumped into the structure beneath her with her leg, then fell on the side, groping at something to hold onto. The sting in her leg was bad, but it didn’t stop her from getting a grip on some piece of rusty steel.

“Shiori!” The little Senju yelled toward the sky, looking up in hopes to see her friend who was about a dozen metres up. “Can you.. can you get a rope?” She tried, hoping that she would be heard while finding something to hold onto with her other hand. There were baulks beneath her, but there was a large gap between her feet and their surface. And with her ankle swelling, she didn’t trust that she would land well if she would let go. So, Shizuka pulled herself up, swung her healthy leg over the steel she had been holding onto, then sat up straight.

Now to find how to get back up.. or hope for Shiori to throw her a rope.


**

 

[Kita Shiori]

Shiori shook her head, long pastel curls tumbling about her face as she nudged the younger girl with her knee. “Everyone should be afraid of ghosts,” she spoke through her smile, acknowledging the teasing but unwontedly solemn all the same. Shiori leaned forward, brushing Shizuka’s hair back from the bun it had escaped. The enforced proximity reminded her of what had just happened, and Shiori fought not to let her mood sour after the Senju’s antics had brought her her first real dose of excitement in a long while.

“Our ancestors most of all. They’re the ones with expectations, yeah? Though I suppose those poor wondering yurei are frightening too, just in a more erratic way.” She wondered about that, sometimes. What her ancestors would think of her. Junichiro’s family was like a phantom limb, something she felt at all times but could never quite see. As a child she used to daydream about showing up on their doorstep under a disguise, and only after proving herself a master smith would she have revealed her parentage. Those dreams had been full of smiling aunts and uncles, a busy forge and a full town house that never quieted. It was wisps of imagination, mostly, but sometimes Shiori felt that Junichiro’s father was watching her with those beady eyes. Waiting. She had never dreamed of this twist in her story, never imagined returning to them under anything other than a metalsmithing guise.

That weight should have felt scary, and sometimes it did, when Junichiro grumbled about the past and banged around in the kitchen. But most of the time she treasured it. A connection, however spiritual, to family. She wanted to be the type of person her ancestors would be proud of, whether silversmith or shinobi. Humming softly under her breath, a forlorn tune the goat herders always played on their pipes back home, Shiori reached out to tweak the Senju’s cheek before pulling back.

Shizuka was so bright, her wonder and newness at topics like money and the future shining like burnished copper. Perhaps in a lesser person it would have only made Shiori’s reality feel starker, instead, though, she felt some sort of protective grace bubbling up. Shiori kind of wanted to see what Shizuka would do with a shop like they were discussing, what her life would end up revealing. Maybe it wasn’t the same as her own, but that made it no less intriguing.

The Senju had already found more trouble, lounging back against some ropes and metal cables like a monkey in a tree. This time Shiori rolled her eyes, unwilling to poke at the obvious joke even though Shizuka had seemed sincere in her apology earlier. If Shizuka wanted to flaunt her risks, Shiori would just have to learn to watch undeterred. She could play the cool act if she tried. “Junichiro?” That earlier comment had slipped by unnoticed and Shiori jolted at the reminder. “Hmm, he’s the one who taught me to smith. When I was a child.”

She was about to continue the conversation, to ask something, maybe about Shizuka’s mom who somehow juggled motherhood and the job at the same time. But whatever breezy question she was building up to was lost as Shizuka quite simply dropped from sight, her lithe body disappearing as some of the metal bits of the bridge shuddered and groaned. Shiori scrambled for the edge of the undercarriage, testing her approach cautiously in case the rest of the girders were waiting to go. Peering over the edge, she caught sight of the child dangling by one arm and almost shouted.

Instead the scream was caught up in her throat, vice-like in its stillness, as Shizuka somehow scrambled to pull herself up and over another baulk. It wasn’t the most stable looking perch, but it was better than hanging free like that. The girl’s brown hair fluttered in the wind, eyes wide for once, as Shiori watched the scene unfold. Unlike earlier when fear had frozen her Shiori knew what to do, and she felt her body snap into motion with an aplomb she wasn’t sure she felt.

Slowly she began to crawl down the side of the bridge, using chakra to stick her hands and feet in place and taking her time to judge that every step could hold her weight. There hadn’t been any loose rope up above, just fraying cables and whatever it was that had snapped earlier and left Shizuka in her current situation. She couldn’t stop to think about the absurd danger she was taking, because to wait would mean leaving Shizuka in a dangerous place, and Shiori would rather just not think.

Hand over hand she lowered herself, dropping lightly onto the wide center beam that ran under the bridge itself and was suspended over Shizuka’s perch. Edging to the side it took her a bit to get herself over Shizuka, but soon enough Shiori was laying down flat and wrapping her knees around the beam as she leaned down. Arm outstretched, she offered her hand to the Senju, “Come on, Shizuka-san! I’ll pull you up here, and then we can go from there. Just grab my hand!”

 

[Senju Shizuka]

For once she was genuinely worried about her own safety. Most of the time she knew where to land, how far to jump, how much further she could climb before running out of strength to head back, but right now she felt stuck. Helpless. Like some kitten caught in the tree with its paw too hurt to continu. All she could do was meow and hope that someone would hear her. Fortunately Shiori did, the older girl was already moving swiftly downstairs with the aid of a technique that Shizuka herself hadn’t fully mastered yet. Then, a couple of cold, silent moments later, came the saving. It was gracefully reached out to her in the form of a hand. The palm of her new friend.

Carefully moving onto her hands and knees, she stayed low to protect herself from the harsh wind that came and went in a rather unpredictable way. Knowing that she wouldn’t be able to reach her friend this way, she let go of the balk beneath. Her heart was pounding in her ears. It sounded like the rolling of thunder during a storm. She held her breath, concentrating on the arm which could only stretch so far.

She had to get up, but just the idea left her shivering. With eyes wide with fear, she pulled back again and let her hands wrap around the balk. By now she no longer held her breath, instead of that, she gasped, sucking in the cold as if it would stop both the throbbing in her ankle and the thoughts of falling all the way down.

“I.. I can’t.” The words might have been lost in the wind, but she didn’t dare to look up in case of Shiori having heard them. She would deem her a coward. Perhaps one not worthy of going through this hassle of saving, right?

Stop whining.. you’re a Senju. Get up, and then jump. Yes, that was the way out. The only way.

“Shiori?” Looking up with a quite frightened expression and lips pressed together as not to show more of her weakness, she gripped the steel tighter. “Don’t let me die, okay?”

Then, as fast as she could while still being able to coordinate her moves, she got up, blocked every thought about slipping as best as she could, and took the leap. The split of a second that she was weightless, awkwardly reaching out for her friend, felt like an eternity. Thank all the spirits that both of them were ninja in training and actually had the acrobatic skills to perform this stunt. Otherwise, instead of dangling on Shiori’s arm, she would be bumping into wooden and steel parts of the bridge on her way to an early death.

Hugging the new, more stable ground, she couldn’t stop some moisture to appear at the corners of her eyes. Once she sat up she quickly tried to wipe away the bits of tears which had come from the shock so the other girl wouldn’t see it. This was embarrassing, really. But the sudden idea of dying had been so real that it had pressured Shizuka’s mind into this shaky state. An unusual sight, if you knew the girl.

“T-thanks.” Mumbling the word, she stared at their new surroundings. This hadn’t been the plan. The cliff was a bit too high here, they would need to go up to get back to the place they had started at. But she couldn’t climb there.. not like this. Having Shiori help her to walk would be one thing, but have the girl carry her wouldn’t really work when she would have to climb the bridge’s structure. This was such a pain. They needed ropes.. or a pavement inclined up, but stable and flat. Some sort of slide that could hold them both.

“I think.. that I have an idea, but you’ll still have to help me walk, if you can. Please.” Nervously blinking, she nodded before taking a deep breath, then turned around to see which part of the cliff was nearby and could form a point from which vines could grow. Thick ones, she hoped. Damn, normally this technique wasn’t meant for creating paths, but the other things she knew probably wouldn’t work here at all.

“Mokuton,” she whispered, concentrating while performing the necessary seals. There was a deep frown on her forehead, a sign of effort she had to put into the jutsu (one that was quite new to her still). “Vine tangle.”

From the side of the cliff they sprouted, launching toward the structure of the bridge on the side of them, close enough for both to climb on quite easily. They led to the rocky side where they came from, while the other half of them had latched itself onto the railing of the bridge somewhere above them. Shizuka knew that she could always correct or strengthen the vines as they would make progress across them. For now she simply poured more chakra into them to make have them intertwine into a thicker, flatter surface. One that should be able to hold them latching onto it with chakra. And seeing as Shiori appeared to be very good at it, Shizuka hoped that the girl would allow her to lean onto her shoulder.

“It should be stable, I mean, wood would have been better, I guess, but mine isn’t refined enough to be of any use here, I’m sorry.”


**

 

[Kita Shiori]

Her heart felt still and cold like the pit of a plum, rock-hard where it pressed up against her ribcage. Winds carved away at her precarious balance, cold enough now that she began to shiver even as she tightened her knees around the baulk. Shizuka had gotten her weight beneath her, but the younger girl froze as she stared up at Shiori’s outstretched hand. Whether it was pain from the fall or fear, Shiori couldn’t say. All she knew was that they could not wait, not when the bridge might collapse further. “Come on! Shizuka-chan, it will be okay! I’ve got you!” Her words went high, piercing the clouds as she tried to encourage the little Senju.

Shiori wasn’t sure if she had even been heard, but the other girl’s blank face reformed as those eyes pinned Shiori in place. She had never seen a look like that. Goosebumps crawled up her forearms and Shiori leaned as far as she dared, shoving away her panic. Shizuka wouldn’t die, it was impossible. Not so close to her home, not when she was so close to graduating as a fully-fledged ninja. Genin didn’t die from broken bridges like peasants did. It simply couldn’t be the case. Wasn’t that the purpose behind all this chakra and endless training?

“I won’t!” Shiori grit her teeth, shouting loudly. “I promise, Shizuka-chan. I won’t let you fall! Now, come on! Grab my hand!” The little girl coiled, her body tensing as she leapt the distance, one calloused grip encircling Shiori’s wrist. Like a trap snapping shut, Shiori clamped down, heaving with her back and shoulders to drag the Senju up and onto her platform. For a brief second, the wind tugging at her parcel, she wondered if she would have the strength, but then the top of Shizuka’s head came into view and she hauled with all her strength.

The two girls crouched in a huddled mess, panting heavily and shaking from the adrenaline as well as the exhaustion. Shiori hadn’t even the energy to pray, so deep-seated her earlier fear. It was Shizuka’s quiet apology, so small and soft and totally unlike the lazy vibrant girl from moments before, that wrenched the thirteen-year old back into the moment. Wide eyes narrowed swiftly as her face transformed into a picture of wrath, scowl biting deep at her cheeks. Shiori lunged, wrapping her arms around the other girl and pressing her into her shoulder, clutching like she would never let go. “You’re sorry? Why should you be sorry! It was the stupid bridge that broke on you! Shizuka-chan, I swear! You must have some sort of vengeful spirit’s eye on you!”

Her hug tightened, and Shiori took a few calming breaths. She had been so frightened! But they weren’t even out of the woods yet, so to speak. Shizuka’s jump earlier had proven her suspicions, the girl had injured her ankle in the fall, or maybe worse. It was going to be rough getting to safety, and nightfall wasn’t too far off. The blacksmith’s daughter drew back, her hands still resting lightly on Shizuka’s shoulders as she eyed the other girl.

A weak chuckled broke the tension, mirth fleeting but almost stronger due to the insanity of their situation. Shiori rubbed a hand across her eyes, and slid back a bit, giving Shizuka access to the side of the cliff. “By all means,” she murmured, hoping to Raiden’s toes that this idea of the Senju’s would save them both. If it didn’t, she wasn’t sure what they could do. Shizuka wasn’t good enough at tree-walking to teach someone else, not when she barely understood how it worked herself. And she didn’t like the odds of carrying another person up the rickety underwiring either.

Shizuka leaned forward, resting heavily against Shiori’s arm as the older girl supported her weight. The furrow of concentration was the only warning given, the little ninja flashing through seals with an ease that baffled the older girl. Sure enough, there was a pop from up above, pebbles and rock skittering to clatter against the bridge as rope-like vines surged to coat the cliff wall. Blinking once, Shiori stared at the rapid growth of plant-life that surely hadn’t been there to begin with, and began to laugh. Clutching Shizuka as she shook, her giggles irrepresable, Shiori let her chin rest on the other girl’s head and smile.

“If I’d known you could do something like that this whole time, I never would have climbed down to get you,” she teased, letting out a low whistle as she took in the almost stair-like incline the vines had created. Oh, it wasn’t perfect, and Shizuka was right, wood in the form of a latter might have been easier, but it was so far beyond what she had expected that it floored her. “I don’t think I could have helped you if it was wood, anyway. This way I can take some of the weight for you, so vines were the better choice.”

Shiori stepped forward, testing her sandaled foot against the wild growth. It was spongy, giving way beneath her weight, but holding strong when she rested upon it fully. So, a little bouncy, but nothing they couldn’t manage. Reaching back to re-center Shizuka, she smiled ruefully. “Come on. Wrap your arm around my shoulder, I’ll put my arm here to hold you up, and we’ll try to keep your weight off that ankle. I’ll lift, like so…” Shiori waited for the Senju to comply, taking most of the girl’s weight across her shoulders so Shizuka wouldn’t have to step on the bad foot. “Okay! Good! Now, let’s take this a step at a time, slowly, yeah? I won’t let you fall, so don’t go flailing around on me. We’re trying to hide from your evil ghost, okay? Don’t attract any more of his attention!”

They stepped forward tentative at first, and Shiori paused to adjust her hold before they moved again. It was tricky, not all that comfortable due to the height difference, but not as painful as she had imagined it might be. Shiori kept her feet coated in a thin layer of chakra, fingers curled around Shizuka’s sleeve, and somehow managed not to jostle or loose her grip as they ascended the vine incline.

 

[Senju Shizuka]

The hug had warmed her both inside and outside. She had never expected for Shiori to be so forgiving and kind, well, not that she knew the girl very well, but most kids from the Academy would have laughed a bit at her inability to get back up (after saving her). It’s why this here, it felt different. Somehow the embarrassment of being a failure vanished quite quickly. Shiori allowed her, in some subtle way, to be vulnerable without being afraid. It was an odd, new feeling. Something the young Senju had difficulty grasping and understanding, because uptil now she had only shown weaknesses of sorts to her family. Not to anyone from the Academy. There had been no need for it, the lessons could be hard from time to time, she got tired, bored, and then there were the occasional idiots she had to deal with, but there had been nothing that had moved her the way her fall had just now, so she had been able to keep it together without too much effort.

“Thankfully I have a good spirit to pick me up, right?”

No, she wasn’t messing with spirits here or laughing at Shiori’s belief in them, she was just expressing her relief, gratefulness, and whatever else there was coiling in the pit of her stomach, through her usual exterior of growing calmness and shimmering eyes.

Shiori wouldn’t leave her behind.
The vines were ready.
They could joke around a bit before moving on, right?
Right!

Awkwardly leaning on her tall friend, she nodded to show that she agreed to her plan. It wouldn’t be easy to get all the way up, but with Shiori’s help she was confident that she would make it. The lingering fear from before was quickly fading as they started to work their way up. “I’ll try not to, and.. thanks,” Setting her healthy foot firmly onto the stairs of her own creation she added. “really, thank you for letting me hang on your shoulder.”

Conjuring up a wide smirk of appreciation with eyes slightly narrowed as if the sun was a bother, she then looked down and concentrated on her footwork. Oddly enough the aching in her ankle helped her to focus on the task at hand. She walked, slowly, awkwardly, hanging a bit too much on Shiori for her own liking, but nevertheless she moved forward, upward. It took them longer than she had imagined at first to get all the way up, but eventually, as the sun kissed the horizon goodbye, they found themselves next to her sketchbook.

“Kami, my mother is going to kill me.”

Sitting on the ground, leaning up against the rock, she chuckled lightly. By the now the ankle was swollen but she didn’t really care. Dad would fix it once she would get home, and if she would survive her parents’ lecture, this would be a nice story to tell. Though, the most important thing of this afternoon was the tall, seemingly clumsy girl by the name of Shiori whose face the little Senju was studying now as they sat side by side.

“Please save me from her rage and come with me, she won’t be nagging too much in front of someone she doesn’t know. Oh, and you must have missed dinner because of me, so you can stay over. I promise that my mom’s food is really nice.” Nodding, she knew that she could always play the card of limping and drag her newfound friend inside the house once they got there. She would, however, rather not apply force in the state she was in.

“I’ll share my stash of amanatto with you.”


**

 

[Kita Shiori]

Shiori grunted, tugging the Senju’s arm tighter around her shoulder as they waddled up the makeshift stairs. Contrary to her first assessment, the thick vines proved remarkably stable, barely bending or twisting under their combined weight. It still wasn’t easy, though, and she cursed her unnatural height more than once as they painstakingly hopped from ridge to ridge. Shizuka made no sound, seemingly unaffected by the way Shiori jostled her ankle or dragged her bodily to the next step. Part of her was amazed, but mostly Shiori felt a hot wash of guilt. That she couldn’t protect this little girl from pain, that she couldn’t even prevent herself from causing more pain.

They paused, only a few steps into the process, as Shiori adjusted her grip and gave the younger girl a chance to take a breath. Which was when Shizuka tilted her head back and mused about the spirits, a wicked glint in those jade-green eyes, and Shiori felt as if she’d been doused with a bucket of ice water. For a moment she couldn’t even speak, standing stock-still as her heart hammered away at her ribs. It wasn’t the trust inherent in that statement, or even the surprising propensity for humor after such a terrifying ordeal – no, Shiori was thrown off-guard by the ghostly weight of Shizuka’s statement. It wasn’t clear if the Senju believed in spirits the same was Shiori did, if she felt the hands of her ancestors on her neck in the same manner. But either way, her words echoed with far-off import, parting the veil between the here and now.

If Shiori hadn’t already determined that she liked the small cat-like student, she would have had no choice now but to take heed. Words like that were witnessed by more than just the two children. It was a promise, inadvertent in its wisdom. Part of her was scared that Shizuka could speak prophecy so easily, worried that she was being dragged down a road she hadn’t asked for. But all it took was the other girl to smile at her, that grin all but bursting with steady warmth and mischief, for the blacksmith’s daughter to accept her fate.

“I’m going to have to burn so much incense for you, I can already feel my pockets growing lighter,” she grumbled, shaking her head in a woebegone manner. And it was true. As Shiori and Shizuka started back up the incline, she began to ponder what type of incense she should burn for the danger-prone girl. Raiden-sama looked over everyone equally, but he was too distant a figure to protect a singular child. Shiori would have to put some thought into this matter, into who she could entrust Shizuka’s soul to, or which spirit she might entice to watch over the girl.

The too casual thank you made her heart clench, and Shiori realized that it wasn’t just her who was feeling awkward over this newfound closeness. She grinned easily, helping Shizuka settled onto the next step before squeezing her shoulder. “Don’t mention it. I could use the practice, yeah? And besides, you’re not too heavy.” She was rambling, maybe, but Shiori didn’t want her companion to think this was some sort of transaction. That she had to owe Shiori for today. When in truth it was Shiori who owed Shizuka a great deal already. For breaking her out of the Academy and showing her the world, reminding her what it was to smile.

They got to the top, finally, and Shiori pulled back to massage feeling into her shoulder. She hadn’t been lying, Shizuka was light, but that didn’t mean her body wasn’t protesting the exertion. Amusement curved at her lips as she watched Shizuka panic. It was strange that Shizuka could be so blasé about the Academy Instructor’s who legitimately held the student’s lives in their hands and yet fall to pieces over the presumed reaction of her Mother. Maybe it was a ninja thing. For all Junichiro might yell at her, or even buffet her about the head if she was being particularly stupid, Shiori could never imagine being frightened of her Father.

“I’ll come with you.” The words were out of her mouth before her brain had caught up, and Shiori blinked back surprise at her wicked tongue. It was a horrible idea. Mainly because if no one had missed her at the Academy by now, they surely would if she took much longer. But also, because Shizuka’s mother was a ninja, and she’d know, on sight, just how unseemly this dirt-bred commoner was to be her daughter’s friend. Shiori had accepted that Shizuka was strange, that she didn’t pick up on the social cues everyone else was so hung up on. But that didn’t mean she would go against her parents, and this was far too soon for their friendship to be ending.

But the words had been natural. And Shiori probed the spidery feeling in her gut, realizing with no small amount of shock that she actually wanted to go. To see a real family. To see Shizuka’s family, no less. And to spend more time with this silly girl who held such innate talent despite her laconic demeanor. Shaking her head, at her own perfidy, Shiori slipped over to Shizuka’s side once more, helping to prop her up. “Come on then, we’d best get you home before your ankle balloons to the size of a horses.”

“And if your Mom kills me, I hope you know I’m blaming you. No amount of grave offerings will appease my angry spirit, I’ll haunt you for the rest of your life, Shizuka-chan!” She hugged the girl with one arm, tightening her grip as her maudlin complaints strafed the cliffside.

 

[Senju Shizuka]

If her mother was to kill anyone then it would definitely not be Shiori. That much Shizuka already knew. The older, taller girl was her savior, so her mother would see her the same way. She would be grateful, and only show her anger toward her reckless daughter. Already Shizuka felt like a threatened kitten, but didn’t say anything about it Shiori. A sneaky thought of letting her friend to worry about what was to come once they would hit the Senju mansion kept her distracted from her swollen ankle.

To her surprise her mother wasn’t home. It appeared that she had spent her annual amount of luck to get that done. Her father was, he laughed. Then offered to heal her ankle while trying to get to know Shizuka’s new friend. Later that night they had a nice dinner. Mom was out until the next day; a mission of sorts had arrived to their doorsteps while the girls had been having an adventure.

When Shiori left, Shizuka hoped that they would get to chill again soon. And let the girl know that she was always welcome at her place.


**
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