Phew. For what it was worth, nobody seemed too surprised that she didn't know where she belonged. For the moment, she was safe, and the teacher continued his lesson. Though the girl was attentive as ever, it was hard to miss that one of the students was much less so. Was he... sleeping? Intersting, she thought, but at least he would lower the standards for the rest of them.
She looked to Kiri again. It sounded like her explanation was, for the most part, spot on. She had come to expect nothing less of herself. She just needed to carry that confidence into her next task. An imaginary scenario, with a cute little role to match. There had to be a reason why she was the Academy Headmaster, though...
He knew of her. He'd chosen her role specifically. If he could match her face to her name, then he'd surely heard of her academy antics... Her less-than-subtle efforts to avoid physical sessions, including any fights that might prepare her to survive. There was no other reason why she would be given a role so far from shinobi combat.
...Or maybe, just maybe, he'd remembered the name she had
just told him, and the rest was by chance. Chill out, she told herself. Letting thoughts run wild couldn't end well for anybody.
A faint smile showed itself, even if nobody was looking her way. Showing that everything was fine was more for her benefit than anybody else's. It helped that she performed much better in the classroom than any physical challenge. Asami turned to read her sheet.
Her smile fled the scene. What on earth was that about? Wasn't a headmaster supposed to deal with students? As bright as the girl claimed to be, political intrigue flew over her head. What child was expected to take an interest in that jazz? Asami gave pause, taking a deep breath. There was a lot to unpack, and panicking wouldn't help any of it. Key points. If anybody bothered to look her way, they would see had begun annotating the paper, underlining major points. Mercenary army. Bad news. Tension and trades. Poor relationship with other countries, but not entirely relevant to internal struggles. Until they start causing problems.
Assistance. She could read between the lines on that one. A man attempting to build his own army had a lot to gain from allying with the Headmaster, who could cherry-pick the best of each class and send them to him. Yes, it would be helping the country... at first glance. Much like two catty girls in the playground, offering to 'help' the Daimyo would only add cannon fodder to the Land of Growing Tensions. In the worst case scenario, the 'small problem' would add to the snowball that would be civil war.
Of course, Asami's thoughts were much more scattered, tended to run in circles, and resulted in a mess of notes on the blank space of her page. All the while, she bore a look of intense focus, much like a child in their final exam. By the time she had managed to tie the scenario back to the man's opening phrase - and even that was a stretch -, she had almost used half her time! A second opinion was in order. She looked to the 'Raikage'. In theory, she could go to him first, but he would have an obvious bias, and presenting the suggestion without a solution couldn't do much good. The next choice was the domestic advisor! Doi (funny name, she mused) would supposedly have a lot more to say about her predicament, even if the bias was still present. That was still hypothetical - she couldn't count on a young child to be an expert, but she worked with what she had.
She crossed the room without much hesitation, stopping before him.
"Hey. You're the advisor for domestics, right?" As always, she showed a warm smile, but her tone was much more relaxed than he had last heard it. Without the teacher involved, she could put herself at ease - though he was probably eavesdropping without her noticing.
"I'm guessing you know about all the village troubles already. They're really getting in the way of teaching young shinobi. The Daimyo wants to, er... help with the problems around and outside the village. To return the favour, I'd have to help out with any of his future plans." She paused, but the smile remained. She'd basically told him her whole problem, which wasn't very helpful.
"Do you think saying no to that deal could cause problems later?" She deliberately kept her thoughts on the matter quiet, to see if he'd unearth something she hadn't.
Word Count: 784 + 526 = 1310 (2/5)
Entering the classroom, Kiri didn’t think he be returning to the academy like this. Wasn’t he only allowed to use the outside facility? After all, any anomalies and unexpected accidents might damage the academy building itself. But he supposed since the topic at hand was nothing of his usual destructive potential, they granted him the place. Not to mention that if this was a review for a particular part of the upcoming chuunin exam, then it should cover the ambiance as well. While there was no guarantee that this would come up in the said chuunin exam, it was a good seminar to give the young shinobis as it could give them a moment to reevaluate their knowledge.
