Chapter 40: Life in Konoha!

Mikoto was walking through the market district the morning after the celebration, enjoying the simple miracle of buying candy as a child, when a blur of red came out of nowhere and tackled her into a vegetable stand.

"MIKOTO!"

“What the hell?!” The stand owner shouted. 

The vegetables scattered. Mikoto hit the ground with a hundred and ten pounds of redheaded force on top of her.

"Kushina…" Mikoto wheezed.

"You're back! You're actually back! Two whole years, you know! Two years and you didn't write me enough and when you did write it was all 'the war is hard' and 'I'm tired' and never any of the good stuff!" Kushina pulled back enough to look at her, violet eyes blazing, red hair everywhere. "Do you have any idea how boring this village is without you?!"

"I can’t imagine."

"You can't! You were off being a war hero and I was stuck here doing D-rank missions and academy refreshers because apparently being a jinchūriki means you're too 'valuable' to send to the front!" She complained. "Get up. We're getting food. You're going to tell me everything."

She hauled Mikoto to her feet, apologized to the stand owner with a bow that knocked over more vegetables, and dragged her best friend toward a tea house by the wrist. Mikoto left some money behind for the poor man’s troubles.

They talked for three hours.

Kushina did most of it. She talked about the village, about the people who'd come and gone, about the gossip Mikoto had missed. She talked about being kept inside the village, about the ANBU who watched her, about the frustration of being a kunoichi who wasn't allowed to fight in the war all of her friends were dying in.

And she talked about Minato.

"He's a total wimp!" Kushina said, stirring her tea without drinking it. "All quiet and polite and 'yes Kushina, of course Kushina.' He just lets people walk all over him even when they bully him." She looked really irritated. "He’s lucky I’m around to deal with those losers or he’d be totally helpless!"

Mikoto watched her friend closely with a mischievous smile on her face.

"You like him?" Mikoto said.

"What?! Are you crazy?!" Kushina grabbed her by her collar and shook her back and forth.

"Why would you protect a boy you think is a wimp if you don’t like him?" Mikoto smiled as she was rocked back and forth.

Kushina's face went the same color as her hair. "Sh-shut up! It's not like that! He's just a pathetic wimp and it pisses me off seeing people walk over him! That's all! As the future first female Hokage, how can I let anyone bully anyone in the village?!"

"I guess that makes sense." Mikoto had the look of someone who obviously didn’t believe it at all.

"YOU DON’T MEAN THAT!" Kushina slammed the table, releasing Mikoto. The teacups jumped. "Enough talking about me! What about you, huh? Two years on the battlefield surrounded by cute boys, you telling me there's nobody?"

Mikoto thought about it. "Nope. Nobody." She obviously wouldn’t give her any dirt.

"LIAR!" Kushina didn’t believe it for one second.

“What a shame you’ll never know.” Mikoto giggled.

"Is he handsome?" Kushina asked.

"Uhh, I dunno…" Mikoto broke eye contact.

"That's a yes!" Kushina grinned. "Who is he?! You have to tell me! I will follow you home and ask any Uchiha boys who went to war with you if you like them."

"Shut up, Kushina." Mikoto laughed. “How about this…” She smirked, “you introduce me to Minato and I’ll introduce you to the mysterious boy that may or may not exist that I think is handsome.”

“No deal! No way! I don’t even like Minato! He’s just….” She didn’t know what the word was. “He’s just Minato! That’s all and that’s all he’ll ever be!”

“Then I guess that’s that.” Mikoto shrugged.

“OH BY THE WAY!” Kushina suddenly grabbed her and looked deep in her eyes.

"What?"

"You're a jonin."

"...Yes."

"A freaking jonin..." Kushina's eye twitched. "And I'm still a genin."

"Kushina-"

"How?! How are you a jonin?! Is it because you’re three years older than me?! You're a JONIN and I'm doing D-ranks, chasing stupid cats and dogs!"

"It's the war." Mikoto explained. "Field promotions happen fast. You prove yourself in enough conflicts and they bump you up. It's not like peacetime. It's easy to get promoted during a war."

"Easy?!" Kushina stood up so fast her chair fell over. "Don't give me that! It's wartime and I'm not even close to chunin! You don't get to be a jonin at fourteen by it being 'easy'! There's no way the future first female Hokage is that far behind her best friend!"

"Kushina, it's not a competition-"

"It's absolutely a competition!" Kushina pointed at her. "I want to see it. Whatever made them think you were jonin material. Right now. You and me. A spar. I'm not letting you be this far ahead of me without seeing what I'm chasing!"

Mikoto looked at her friend. The fire in her eyes. The wounded pride. The competitive blaze that is willing to challenge anyone and everyone.

She could refuse. She probably should. But she'd been gone for two years and Kushina wanted to spend time with her, and if spending time meant fighting, then that was fine too.

"Okay." Mikoto said.

Kushina blinked. "Okay?"

"You want a spar, you'll get a spar. Let's go to the training grounds."

"...Just like that?"

"Just like that. I missed you too, Kushina."

Kushina's face went through several emotions before settling on a grin that could have powered the village. "You're going down, you know?!"

Training Ground Eleven was empty when they arrived.

Kushina stretched. Mikoto watched. Even in the way her friend moved, Mikoto's three-tomoe Sharingan, which she still kept active most of the time, could read a dozen flaws.

“Don’t even think about holding back against me or I’ll hate you forever, Mikoto.” Kushina warned.

"No holding back." Mikoto lied. She didn't mention that she'd be holding back enormously. There was no version of this where she fought Kushina at full strength. But she wouldn't just stand there either. She had a different plan.

She'd teach her.

She had a feeling that Kushina had never learned a thing from words in her life. Tell her to fix her stance and she'd nod and do what she thought was best if not outright just disagree. Tell her to guard her ribs and she'd forget in three seconds. Kushina probably learned the way Nawaki learned, the way Chōza learned, with their bodies, through consequence, by doing the wrong thing and feeling why it was wrong.

So Mikoto would show her. She'd target every flaw, exploit every opening, and let Kushina's own body teach her the lessons her ears never would.

"Ready?" Mikoto said.

"Are you ready!" Kushina corrected her.

Kushina ran forward.

She was faster than the average genin she saw on the battlefield. Her chakra control was pretty good. Her first punch was aimed at Mikoto's face with everything she had behind it.

And her ribs were wide open.

Mikoto swayed out of the way of the punch and struck Kushina's exposed ribs.

Kushina dropped to her knees with widened eyes. "Oh…" Air was leaving her lungs. “Lucky… shot…”

"Was it?" Mikoto gently smiled.

Kushina got back to her feet and threw a combination of attacks. Hook, spinning kick, uppercut. Every attack overcommitted, her weight tumbling forward with each one. Mikoto read them with ease, swaying around each strike, and after the third she chopped down on Kushina's shoulder. The off-balance redhead dropped down into the dirt.

"Gah!" The pain shot up her body.

"You can’t leave yourself so open, Kushina. You gotta attack with defense in mind too."

"Shut up! I already knew that!" 

"Did you really?" Mikoto smiled again as she let her up.

The next time Kushina overcommitted, Mikoto's leg sunk into the exact spot on her ribs that she kept leaving open. Hard enough to send her rolling across the grass. Kushina grunted and staggered. Her hand went to her ribs. Her eyes narrowed.

"There’s no way!" She said.

She came in. She overcommitted. Mikoto hit the same spot.

"How… How did you get this much stronger?!"

Same thing. Same spot. Kushina's ribs were going to be a mess tomorrow…

But on the fifth exchange, something changed. Kushina threw the hook, felt her weight start to tip, and pulled back at the last second. Her guard came up. Her ribs closed. And Mikoto's fist, aimed at the spot that had been open all five previous times, met Kushina's forearm instead.

Kushina's eyes went wide. "I blocked it!"

"You did."

"I BLOCKED IT! Did you see that?! You’re mine now Ms. Jonin!"

"Oh no." Mikoto sarcastically cried out.

“You little!”

They went for hours with five minute breaks every now and then. That Uzumaki bloodline allowing her to continue fighting far longer than the average genin. She just fought, and every time Kushina made a mistake, the mistake hurt. And every time, Kushina's body adjusted, hunting for the change that didn't result in pain.

Her stance shifted. Her weight centered. Her guard tightened. Her telegraphing faded as her body learned that big wind-ups got punished. By the end of the hour, Kushina was a measurably better fighter than she'd been at the start, and she didn't even know she'd been taught. She thought she'd figured it out herself and was getting better by the second.

Which was exactly the point.

Her teaching skill was probably one of her most valuable skills. Invisible, finding the fastest path from Kushina's flaws to Kushina's growth and walking her down it one bruise at a time. Finally, Kushina sat down hard in the dirt, breathing like a bellows, covered in bruises and dirt and grinning like she'd won a war.

"Okay," She panted. "Okay. I see it now. You're... yeah. You're a real jonin. I get it."

"The realest jonin." Mikoto confirmed, staring down at her from above with a smirk.

“Okay, punk. No need to rub it in, okay? Aren’t you supposed to be the mature one?” Kushina blew a raspberry at her.

“Only when I have to.” Mikoto knelt beside her, hands already glowing green. "Let me heal those bruises before-"

Kushina slapped her hands away.

"Hey!"

"No way!" Kushina said, climbing to her feet despite the wince that crossed her face. "How am I supposed to become the first female Hokage if my best friend babies me every time I get a few bruises? These are battle scars, dattebane! I earned them!"

"They're going to hurt tomorrow."

"Good! Then I'll remember how much I need to grow even more!" Kushina put her hands on her hips, standing tall and battered and radiant. "Besides, we're not done. You've still got time before you have to go be all jonin again, and I've got a whole list of stuff we're doing. The dango place. The hot springs. The dumpling stand by the river. You owe me two years, Mikoto. We're starting now."

Mikoto looked at her friend, bruised and beaming, and smiled along with her.

"Let’s go." she said.

"You're still a freaking jonin though…" Kushina muttered as they walked, kicking a rock. "Fourteen. A jonin. I can't believe it."

“It’s not all that it's cracked up to be.” Mikoto shared.

“Of course you would say that…” Kushina didn’t believe a word of it.

The morning was bright and clear when Mikoto and Nawaki arrived at the Academy.

Other jonin were there too, walking in and out the building, waiting to collect the genin who'd been assigned to their squads. A rotation of new teams forming, the village's way of replenishing its forces even in the middle of a war. Mikoto recognized a few faces. Nodded to a few others. Word of her return had spread, and the looks she got ranged from respect to awe.

Nawaki stood beside her, the Kusanagi on his back now, his scars on full display. He'd grown into something a bit more mature over the past months. Still loud when he wanted to be, still chasing the Hokage dream, but tempered now. The war and incident had burned some of the recklessness out of him and allowed something admirable to sprout from the ashes.

"You nervous?" Mikoto asked him.

"Why would I be nervous?" He questioned.

"Just asking." Mikoto grinned as she turned away as they made it to the classroom.

Nawaki opened the door of the graduating class. Children stared at them immediately. The chunin academy teacher called up two names after recognizing Mikoto. Two girls got up.

A girl with long dark brown hair tied in a low ponytail, three strands framing a serious and overbearing face. Yoshino Tokage.

Beside her, a wild-haired girl who looked younger than her age, with a small dog trotting at her heels. Brown hair sticking up in untamed spikes, fang markings on her cheeks, sharp canine teeth visible when she grinned, which was often. Tsume Inuzuka, nine years old, with a young Kuromaru, bounding along beside his partner with his tongue out.

"Hey you two," Mikoto waved warmly. "Let’s go."

They came and left as the class exploded with awe and jealousy.

"You're the Uchiha Mikoto?" Yoshino asked. "The Red-Eyed Angel. They talk about you at the Academy. The instructors use you as an example of what a kunoichi should be."

"They do?" What the freak was that about? Mikoto thought to herself.

"They do." Yoshino's eyes moved to the Sharingan, then to the bandaged sword, then to the gunbai on her hip. "I’m glad I got you as my jonin. A real war hero. The perfect example of what a kunoichi should be."

"I wouldn’t say perfect… I have many flaws to still work on." Mikoto shook her head.

“Don’t listen to her.” Nawaki whispered. “Mikoto-sensei never brags about anything if it involves herself. She could invent a new medical operation never seen before and thank everyone but herself.”

"Really?! Why?! " Tsume blurted. "Everyone said she was this huge war hero who saved thousands of lives! Why be humble about that?"

“To trick enemy nations?” Yoshino didn’t understand it either.

“But she’s being humble to us. Not them.” Tsume added. 

“Enough talking about me, okay!” Mikoto softly exclaimed.

"Kuromaru says you smell scary." Tsume said anyway. "Like blood and fish and a whole lot of other people's smells. He says you've been around a lot of blood."

The dog made a low sound. Mikoto looked at the young Kuromaru.

"Your dog can smell something like that?"

“I can too. You smell terrifying!” Tsume bared her teeth with a smile. “We like you.” Kuromaru barked in agreement.

Nawaki stepped forward. "I'm Nawaki! Leader when Mikoto is not available. I've been with Mikoto-sensei the longest, so if you've got questions, you can ask me."

Yoshino looked at his scars. "What happened to your… everything?"

"Explosive tags," Nawaki said, without flinching. "I did something stupid. Sensei saved my life. I learned from it." He grinned. "Don't do stupid things. That's lesson one."

"What kind of stupid things?" Yoshino asked.

"I do stupid things all the time!" Tsume said cheerfully. Kuromaru barked what might have been agreement or might have been a warning.

Mikoto looked at the three of them. She felt this was going to be a strange team.

The rooftop of the Academy gave a clear view of the village. The Hokage Rock. The market district. The training grounds in the distance. Konoha spread out beneath a clear sky, peaceful in a way the war never was.

Mikoto sat on the railing. Her three genin arranged themselves in front of her, Nawaki leaning against the wall, Yoshino sitting properly with her hands on her knees, Tsume sprawled on the ground staring up at Mikoto with stars in her eyes and Kuromaru on her back.

"Before we start, I want to know who you are," Mikoto said. "Tell me your likes, your dislikes, your hobbies, and your dreams. Nawaki, you go first so they know how it works."

Nawaki straightened. "Right! I'm Nawaki Senju. I like training, eating, and proving people wrong. I dislike giving up and people who look down on others." His hand drifted to the necklace at his throat. "My most recent hobby is practicing kenjutsu with this sword sensei entrusted to me. And my dream is to become Hokage. The greatest Hokage the village has ever seen."

Yoshino and Tsume grinned at him.

"Yoshino," Mikoto said. "You next."

"Yoshino," She said. "I like getting stronger, sweets, and learning. I dislike laziness, excuses, and sloppiness." Her eyes flicked to Tsume, who was letting Kuromaru chew on her sleeve. "My hobby is studying. I read everything I can get my hands on. My dream is to become a kunoichi strong enough that no one can dismiss me."

Mikoto smiled. She reminded her a little bit of Emi.

"Tsume."

The wild girl sat up, dumping Kuromaru off her stomach. He yipped in protest.

"I'm Tsume Inuzuka! And this is Kuromaru, he's my best friend!" The dog barked. "I like running, fighting, the smell of rain, and meat! Especially meat! I dislike sitting still, being told to be quiet, and cats. Cats are the worst!" Kuromaru growled in solidarity. "My hobby is exploring with Kuromaru and finding new smells. And my dream..." She grinned, all fangs. "My dream is to be the strongest Inuzuka ever! Me and Kuromaru are gonna be a legend! People are gonna hear our names and go 'oh no! It's Tsume and Kuromaru!'"

Kuromaru barked twice, clearly endorsing this vision.

Mikoto looked at the three of them. Three kids. Three dreams. Three completely different people who were now her responsibility.

"Good," She said. "Those are good dreams. All of them."

She stood up from the railing.

“Wait! What about you, sensei?!” Nawaki grinned.

“Yeah! Sensei you gotta tell us about you too!” Tsume nodded along.

“It’s not fair you get to skip out.” Yoshino added.

Mikoto smiled. “Alright. I’m Mikoto Uchiha. I like peace, I like helping others, and I like to teach. I dislike fighting for no reason, pointless hatred, and killing. As for my hobbies, I like to cook, read, and spend time with friends. My dream is to achieve peace across the world.”

Tsume and Yoshino eyes were completely wide in disbelief. Even Nawaki was a bit shocked hearing his sensei list that stuff out like that. 

“What?” Mikoto’s face turned a little red. She didn’t feel like she said anything too shocking.

“The rumors definitely don’t fit you, sensei...” Yoshino shook her head.

“Yeah, I thought you were the coolest kunoichi ever. But you like such boring stuff!” Tsume added.

“There’s nothing wrong with being boring.” Mikoto softly argued.

“Yeah but! Man… how did those rumors get so messed up? It’s like you’re a totally different person in person!” Tsume felt.

Mikoto coughed as she got the topic off herself and back where it needed to be. "Now here's the thing nobody told you. You're not genin yet."

Yoshino's head snapped up. "What? We graduated. We passed the academy exam."

"You passed the academy exam. That makes you eligible to become a genin. It doesn't make you one." Mikoto looked at each of them. "There's another test. A real one. The academy exam tells the village you have the basics. Every jonin has their own test they give to aspiring academy students."

"What kind of test?" Tsume asked.

"You'll find out tomorrow."

"That's not fair!" Tsume protested. "Tell us so we can get ready!"

"Being ready for things you don't fully know is part of being a shinobi." Mikoto allowed herself a small smile. "Here's all I'll tell you. Eat a hearty breakfast tomorrow morning. You'll need the energy. Then meet me at Training Ground Eleven at dawn."

Yoshino frowned. "And if we fail this test?"

"Then you go back to the academy and try again next year." Mikoto's smile didn't waver, but her eyes were serious. "I don't take genin who can't pass. The Genin Corps might, but if you can't meet my standard, I won't put you on my team."

The three of them took that in. Nawaki, who hadn’t needed a test, watched the new genin process the stakes.

"Dawn," Mikoto said. "Training Ground Eleven. Hearty breakfast. Don't be late."

She vanished in a Body Flicker, leaving two young shinobi on a rooftop, wondering what they'd gotten themselves into and a third to be questioned intently by the other two.

Behind her, she heard Tsume's voice carry across the rooftop.

"She's so much different than the rumors!"

And Yoshino, quieter: "A hearty breakfast. She specifically mentioned breakfast. Why would she... unless the test involves something physical enough that we'd need the energy, or..." A pause. "She's testing how we prepare. Whether we follow instructions. Or whether the breakfast is a trick."

And Nawaki, laughing: "You're both overthinking it. Just show up ready to be ninjas. That's all sensei means."

Mikoto smiled to herself as she went home.

This team didn’t seem like it was going to be much trouble.