A Burning Torch (Mission, P)

Mission:

Was she sure about this?

Curiosity was getting the best of her it seemed. Not completely thinking her decision through, the young girl had requested to attend a class at the Ninja Academy, wanting to further inspect what the shinobi life was like. Teachers from her civilian classes had given her a multitude of looks... surprise, disappointment, and disgust. While the raven had always been aware of Hoshigakure's hatred for the ninja force, never before had she experienced the full brunt of it, much less the inkling she was shown by her instructors. She was kept in the dark.

However, the least she could do was try. The least she could do was see how things were for herself.

So, a day at the academy it was. She had decided to sit in the back of the class, not wanting to draw attention to herself among a group of younger (but more experienced in terms of chakra and what not) teens. Surprisingly, they paid no mind to her. Maybe this was a normal occurrence? She tried not to think about the... admittedly irrelevant matter too deeply, and instead waited for their teacher to arrive.

(Oh yeah, I know lol. Zee just asked me to start it, so I put the mission in a spoiler for him.)

Shiroi sat in bed, staring at the letter. She read it. Again. This was the fifth time.

"WHERE THE FUCK IS EVERYONE!? WHY AM I DOING THIS SHIT!?"

She hopped out of bed, did her standard morning routine, and trudged off towards the class room.

---

She heard the group of kids in the room. They were all going to be ninja some day, they'd face hardships. Might as well start now. She removed the hood from her hoodie, and decided to have a bit of fun. For the first time in a long, long time, she had her Katana with her. Why? She wasn't terribly sure, but it seemed like a good, threatening item to keep on her to 'handle' unruly students.

Just outside the door, she would form a quick handseal. The hoodie and shorts would change. The shorts would become longer, baggier, but tight fitting at the ends. The hoodie became a simple tee shirt, perhaps a size too large for her, but with the sleeves cut off. Her eyes became a bright red and her hair took on a more metallic blue color than normal. Grabbing the scarf around her neck, she adjusted it so that the metallic plate rested across her forehead while remaining visible. With a few twists and pulls, it would remain in that spot, while the tails of the scarf hung behind her.

Swiftly, she opened the door rather forcefully and strode in. "ALRIGHT, MAGGOTS! MY NAME IS DOESN'T MATTER, AND I'M YOUR INSTRUCTOR TODAY! FIRST TASK: SHOW ME WHICH OF YOU FOOLS KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU'RE DOING! EVERY NINJA TECHNIQUE YOU KNOW, NOW, STARTING WITH...." Shiroi looked around the room. Her eyes stopped upon someone noticeably older than the rest. "YOU!" she yelled, pointing directly to Aiko (?). "FRONT AND CENTER!"

[300]

Silence had reigned for the most part throughout the classroom, with the occasional whispers of conversation managing to reach her ears. Clearly, they did not mind having to wait for their instructor to arrive. Maybe this was even a normal occurrence? Aiko hummed in mild thought as she leaned into her seat, eyes shifting onto the ticking clock above the door.

And interrupting the moment of peace was the sound, and sight, of a door being slammed open. She could feel her heart almost leap out her chest, but what made her amber eyes truly widen was when someone just strolled into the room... yelling? Why? And just what kind of parents name their kid "Doesn't Matter"—oh wait.

If this blue-haired woman was trying to intimidate the class, she definitely succeeded in doing so... but then again, Aiko couldn't speak for everyone. Especially when she, most likely the student with the least knowledge on jutsu, was quickly called out.

"U-uh..." she stammered out at first, dumbfounded, before regaining her senses and responding properly, "Y-yes, sir! I m-mean ma'am! Coming!" A few snickers had rang through the class with her manner of speaking, but she tried not to notice. By the time she reached the front of the class, the girl could feel herself sweating out of nervousness. She was supposed to be performing jutsu, right? Did she know any? ... She blanched once she recalled that no, she did not. Oh god.

"I'm sorry Ms. Doesn't Matter—I mean, sorry ma'am!" she almost yelled. At this rate, she was going to get maimed, "But this is my first time here, so I don't know any real... jutsu..."

[TWC: 471]

"Ok, no joke, you've improved my day a fair bit already" Shiroi would whisper to the girl. "Don't smile, look horrified, and go back to your seat. We'll chat after class, I have a few questions for you."

Once Aiko walked back, Shiroi would shout out "NEXT! YOU!"

The boy walked up, but their was defiance in his gait. "You can't be our teacher, you're too small! And mean!"

"Oh, really? Hmm." Shiroi would turn around slowly and walk to the desk. "Perhaps you're right," she would say before abruptly banging the desk with her head, breaking it into two pieces. "Anything else you want me to know?"

The boy was, rather understandably, sitting on the floor about a foot from where he had stood.

"Anyone else?"

[+127=427]

"Eh?"

It came out as a whisper, giving off the extreme levels of confusion she felt in the moment that the woman had spoken to her. While she did manage to do what was asked of her, plaster an expression of fear onto her face and return to her place in the back, the confusion still remained and overwhelmed her thoughts. Just what could she have possibly done to get this person's attention?

The raven watched with interest as another student was required to go to the front... only to feel upset at the boy's rude nature. Why he would say that, she would never know—

Wait, what on earth?!

Before Aiko knew it, their teacher for the day had destroyed the desk with their own head, not even fazed from the impact. It was understandable for the rather disrespectful boy to fall onto the ground from shock. She would do the same if she was in that position. The challenge that their instructor sent out had the class silent and tense, wondering if yet another person would step up.

"Y-yeah!"

Aiko's eyes had snapped in the direction of the voice, her eyes wide as if she couldn't believe their hardheadedness. It was another boy this time, glaring at their teacher as he spoke, "Where's Mikoto-sensei? We'd rather have him instead of someone as scary as you here!"

It wasn't long until others in the class had decided to follow the lead of the boy, his actions apparently instilling some courage into them. They were creating a ruckus, shouting similar statements and a few rising out of their seats. Aiko could only remain in the back, feeling quite nervous in the chaos she was being exposed to.

"Who the fuck is 'Mikoto-sensei'? Eh whatever, I don't care. You lot have a good day, I'm going home." Shiroi began to walk to the door, a look of triumph upon her face. This would teach them to get her to teach. Tests were one thing, classes were something entirely different.

"Oh wait, first.." Shiroi stopped halfway out the door. Her head turned sharply to Aiko, eyes like daggers. One finger pointed to the girl, then made the 'come here' motion before Shiroi stepped outside, leaving the door open behind her. She's stroll in the direction of the schoolyard for awhile, going at a slow leisurely pace.

[+107=534]

Was this how the students always reacted to things they disliked? The raven wasn't quite sure if she wished to remain in such a class or not. She watched quietly as their... ex-instructor began to walk out the door. That is, until the blue-haired woman pointed at her specifically. Despite being surprised at first, she remembered their small "conversation" from mere moments ago, and soon grabbed her bag before rushing out the door.

She managed to catch up with the strange woman, walking at a pace that kept her merely two to three steps behind. Recognizing the direction they were moving in, Aiko raised her eyebrows, feeling quite perplexed.

"W-where are we going, if you don't mind me asking... ?"

[TWC: 877]

"W-where are we go-" would make it out of her mouth before Shiroi made an abrupt and short "zzt" sound. Then, without looking towards the girl, she would raise one arm, hand in the "ok" symbol. Then she would drag her hand to the side. The universal symbol for "zip it," especially when combined with the sound of a zipper that she had just made.

While she continued walking in silence, Shiroi formed a single handseal. She would purposely force the transformation to take awhile, instead of how it normally happened pretty much instantly. At first, the 't-shirt' would once again grow in size and thickness, until it was her standard black 'hoodie', hood and all, though it still lacked sleeves. At the same time, the baggy 'shorts' would retract, becoming hidden under the hanging portion of the oversized 'hoodie'. She would untie the scarf from around her neck right afterwards, and once again loosely wrap it around her neck, though the village symbol would remain visible. This entire process would be completed as she walked out the door into the school yard. Raising both arms into the air, she would stretch and exclaim "MUCH better, I hate loose shorts," while the raised arms, specifically the left which was stretching much higher, lifted the hoodie just over the top of her shorts.

Resting back down, she would turn around and jump back a few feet. "Transformation. Clone. Pretty single techniques." She would demonstrate after, showing the two simple techniques. "Make an educated guess at what I'm doing, then try it out." She performed them once more, announcing the name and taking the actions slowly. "Best effort."

[276->810]