The next day, my personal nightmare came to visit. As the saying goes—speak of the devil, and he appears. Remember how we were talking about Nawaki yesterday? Well, here he is… try not to choke.
The morning began with a rather delicate wake-up:
"Chi-chan," a cautious touch on my shoulder and a gentle voice pulled me from sleep. "Chi-chan, wake up."
"Ma? What happened?" I mumbled, barely coming to my senses.
Usually, Reiko doesn't bother acting as an alarm clock. I'm not a little kid anymore—if I need to wake up, I'll wake up on my own.
"Nawaki happened," I could hear the smile in her voice.
"What does he want?" I asked, rubbing my face irritably.
"To train, of course!" Mom snorted.
I glanced around through bleary eyes. Right. Got it. Fell asleep in the lab again.
"Thanks for waking me."
"Good morning," Mom smiled.
"Morning," I forced myself to perk up. "Aren't you at work yet? What time is it?"
"Almost six."
"Damn Senju," I growled under my breath. "He's so damn annoying!"
"One of the neighbor girls came with him. A rival?" Reiko asked slyly, watching me stagger up the stairs.
"Hyuga? Oh yeah, a terrifying six-year-old rival," I smirked.
"You were quite the sought-after bride at seven," Mom suddenly recalled. "That level of chakra, that kind of potential. And now you're a recognized genius, by the way."
"Mom, I love you so much," I said earnestly, "absolutely adore you. How else can I explain the fact that I haven't run away from your sarcasm yet?"
"I love you too, Chi-chan," she chirped, planting a kiss on my cheek before darting off—most likely to the kitchen.
I, meanwhile, trudged toward the front door. Mom hadn't let Nawaki inside. Maybe it wasn't very polite, but the Senju are fine with that sort of thing. My family only has two people in it—far too few to keep an eye on one hyperactive troublemaker. He'd stick his nose everywhere and inevitably break break something valuable along the way.
"Hi!" the little pest exclaimed the moment he saw my irritated face.
"Good morning, young people. And what brings you here?" I squinted against the bright sunlight. Damn, it was supposed to be December, yet the sun rose like it was summer—what a messed-up world! With this kind of daylight cycle, winters here ought to be warmer, but it had actually gotten chilly. Sometimes it even snowed in Konoha. I'd seen it myself!
"Orochimaru-sama, you are the best teacher!" the little girl bent at a perfect ninety-degree bow.
"Oh, thank you, Nami-chan," I couldn't help but break into a smile. "Take notes, Nawaki—that's how you greet me in the morning! Though, Nami-chan, remind me, why am I the best teacher?"
The girl straightened, puffed up proudly, and planted her hands on her hips.
"I defeated Hizashi-san in a sword duel! It's all thanks to you, Orochimaru-sama!"
"Well done, Nami-chan!" I praised her.
In truth, it must have been quite a sight—a duel between a six-year-old girl and a nine-year-old boy, especially considering that Hyūga aren't exactly known for their swordsmanship.
Casting a faintly pitying glance at her pale eyes, shining with admiration, I could already imagine what the next couple of hours had in store for me.
"Orochimaru-sama, Nawaki-san told me that you plan to hold a lesson with him today. Would I be permitted to join?" the little one bowed respectfully again.
All I could do was theatrically press a palm to my face and feel sorry for the little wonder. And she's six years old? What kind of upbringing does it take for a child to talk like that? Next to her, that Senju blockhead looks like a toddler who barely reaches the table. Though Nami is from a branch family… that explains a lot.
"Nami-chan, tell me—why do you need kenjutsu? You're from the Hyuga clan," I asked in a smooth, probing tone.
"Hizashi-san says my arms are too short to defeat him. With a bokken, my arms are just right to show him the depth of his delusion, Orochimaru-sama!"
…Wow. That was quite a line. Could she be someone's reincarnation too?
"How long are we supposed to wait for you, Orochi-kun?" Nawaki finally snapped out of his daze—apparently just as impressed by her eloquence—only to immediately earn a sharp smack on the back of the head from me.
"I'll be out in five minutes. Someone has to teach you some manners, Senju-san," I hissed sarcastically, letting my lengthened arm return to its usual shape and slamming the door right in front of the kids' noses. A second later, though, I caught myself and, opening the door again, asked Nawaki sternly:
"Did you bring it?"
"Y-yeah," glancing around furtively, the little brat carefully handed me a small flat pouch.
Peeking inside, I bared my teeth in a delighted grin—Senju had kept his end of the deal after all and brought a clump of crumpled hair, clearly pulled from a comb.
Bright-red hair.
"Good job!" I ruffled his hair. "Today I'll teach you something that will definitely come in handy—and might just save your life more than once!" And I slammed the door again before the kids got any ideas about sneaking inside.
Quickly shoving some onigiri into my mouth and throwing on the same clothes I'd trained in with my former teammates yesterday, I rushed outside. For now, I dropped Mito-sama's hair into a solution so I could extract DNA from it later in the evening. Mmm! Life really is beautiful!
It took us about twenty minutes to reach the nearest training ground. We could've made it faster, but Nami-chan still didn't have solid control over her chakra, so jumping across rooftops and tree branches wasn't recommended for her yet. Nawaki, of course, wasn't too happy about the delay and managed to chew my ear off the entire way. What an annoying kid! Just thinking about how I'll soon have to teach three such blockheads makes me feel ill. Thank God I'm only a field leader of such a team for now!
God, please let my future students be like Nami-chan! Better yet, if Nami ends up on my team—that would be perfect. I've never met a more diligent and intelligent child… well, aside from myself, of course!
Anyway, while continuing to ignore the stream of words pouring out of the Senju, I might as well talk to the girl.
"Nami-chan, you do understand that my fencing technique isn't suitable for everyone?"
"Yes. My father told me afterward that the technique I used to defeat Hizashi-san only works when fighting with training wooden swords," the girl nodded.
"And yet you still want to continue learning from me?" I huffed, suspecting that beneath this quiet, respectful, well-mannered façade lurked quite the little devil—one who enjoyed going against accepted rules.