"Ta-da! Rin, come see if you like it!"
Kenichi held out a long rectangular box to Rin. It had been painted a soft pink with a matching satin ribbon tied on top—cute enough to satisfy any little girl's tastes.
It certainly looked like a gift.
Rin took the box and immediately felt its weight. "What is it?" she asked, curious.
"Open it and see," Kenichi said with a mysterious grin, practically vibrating with excitement.
Rin opened the box with anticipation—and her eyes immediately lit up. Nestled inside was a short sword, the very one she had been longing for.
Its blade gleamed silver under the light, exuding a crisp, icy chill. Sharp as autumn frost, the blade was about 40 centimeters long, and including the handle, the whole sword measured just over 50 centimeters. It might be a bit short for an adult, but it was the perfect size for Rin's current height.
She picked up the sword and gently blew across the blade. A soft whoosh was heard as the air split on contact—music to her ears. Her face lit up with pure delight.
"Heh, not bad, huh?" Kenichi beamed proudly. "It's not made from chakra metal, but I used some pretty high-grade alloys. It's tough as hell!"
He grinned wide and gave her a thumbs-up so enthusiastic it reminded Rin of a certain green jumpsuit-wearing watermelon-headed ninja from Konoha.
Later, she'd learn that the "taijutsu expert friend" Kenichi often talked about was actually Might Duy, father of Might Guy—the eternal genin who kicked the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist into next week. In fact, her herbal bath recipe originally came from him.
When Rin found out Kenichi personally knew Might Duy, she had asked him for taijutsu training tips… and was promptly traumatized by the man's monstrously inhuman training schedule.
Kenichi's toothy grin practically blinded her, and Rin sheathed the blade, rolling her eyes. "So… the mission pay?"
"Uh…" Kenichi's smile faltered. He began poking his index fingers together sheepishly, guilt written all over his face.
It was clear he'd spent all the mission reward on the sword.
Rin sighed deeply. She got it. Their family was just that poor.
And now, this year she'd be enrolling in the Ninja Academy—which meant a big chunk of her time would go toward "playing ninja games" at school, with far less time to train freely. That would definitely slow down her growth.
But the Third Great Ninja War was less than three years away.
Pushing aside her worries about their finances, Rin turned to Kenichi with a serious look. "Can you teach me the Shadow Clone Technique?"
Kenichi was puzzled. "How does she even know about that?" But then he thought of her unusually large chakra reserves and shrugged. "Guess it can't hurt."
He went into his room and returned with a scroll detailing the technique.
Rin's eyes sparkled. She just knew Kenichi's room had more jutsu scrolls. She was already plotting to sneak in and look around when he wasn't home.
Maybe it was the influence of her small child body, but she found herself genuinely enjoying mischief—what adults would call "naughtiness." Or as Grandma put it, "Our little Rin is quite the cheeky one."
Maybe she'd always been a rebellious soul, just crushed into submission by modern society. Now, she was letting loose.
She accepted the scroll and nodded sweetly at Kenichi's repeated warnings not to train alone.
"Got it! I'll be careful!" she said, looking obedient but clearly not listening to a single word.
"With Shadow Clones, I can send one to school instead of me!"
---
Opening day at the Ninja Academy was crowded and noisy.
Rin waved goodbye to Kenichi, who had insisted on walking her to school, then stepped into the sea of students.
Standing at the classroom door, she took a deep breath. Though she fully intended to have a clone attend school on her behalf in the future, she wanted to check it out in person on the first day.
She pushed open the door, and the noisy room fell silent for a moment. Dozens of eyes turned to her at once.
Rin instinctively frowned and tugged at her skirt—then quickly straightened up. I'm mentally in my twenties. No way I'm getting intimidated by a bunch of snot-nosed kids.
"Wow, she's so cute!"
"She's pretty. I like her skirt."
"She's totally my type!"
"Your type? She's my type!"
"I liked her first!"
"Shut up! You're not allowed to like her!"
…Just like that, a room full of classmates went from friendly peers to rival lovers.
Today, Rin had her hair tied up in a high ponytail, the ends swaying gently with her movements and glinting warm brown in the sunlight.
Their homeroom teacher was a chunin named Aoki. Smiling, he waved at Rin. "Alright, quiet down! Let's not scare the new student. You can take a seat, Rin—we'll start introductions from the front row."
Rin found an empty spot and nodded politely at the girl next to her. The girl looked like she might faint from excitement as Rin sat down.
Then the first boy in the front row stood and introduced himself:
"I'm Murashita Hiro, and… I… I like girls with high ponytails!" he stammered, blushing furiously as he scrambled off the platform—stealing a glance at Rin on the way.
Rin: "…"
Too early for this nonsense.
One by one, the others introduced themselves.
When her turn came, Rin stepped up and cleared her throat.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Hanabuchi Rin, I'm six years old. I like pretty flowers, swords, and training. I dislike… uh… sticky, slimy bugs." She almost said overtime before catching herself.
"Rin? That's such a nice name."
"Hanabuchi? Never heard of that clan. Is she a civilian?"
The class buzzed with excitement. A few boys had stars in their eyes.
Rin ignored them and bowed politely. "Nice to meet you all."
After introductions, Aoki-sensei began the first lesson—chakra extraction.
"Chakra is the result of mixing physical and spiritual energy. The physical energy comes from…"
---
When the bell rang, class ended—and Rin found herself instantly swarmed by curious girls. The boys didn't even have a chance to get close.
"Rin, how do you take care of your hair?"
"Wanna go shopping for hairpins this weekend?"
"Your skirt is sooo cute! Where'd you get it?"
Rin answered their questions while casually scanning the room.
No familiar faces. Looks like there's not much value here.
"Guess I'll have the shadow clone take over starting tomorrow."
The morning class had focused on chakra basics. The afternoon had no classes, because the entire school was gathering to hear a speech from the Third Hokage.
Rin stood among her class, watching Hiruzen Sarutobi, who now looked a little aged, passionately lecturing a crowd of kids with spittle flying:
"This is the Will of Fire! Where the leaves dance, so too shall the flames burn eternally…"
Rin, internally: Yup. Definitely sending a clone from now on.
---