A strange new life

Kunoichi 101 – Tea Making

To say I was nervous was an understatement. I tiptoed in the bathroom, trying my best to see more of myself in the mirror. My hair had grown out a little—it looked good, I thought. My big, sparkling black eyes looked back. It was still hard to believe I was Hinata. Without the white eyes, of course.

I moved a few strands of hair in place, made sure my clothing was prim and proper. Today was the first Kunoichi lesson.

Up until now, surrounded by the other 26 students, it hadn't been hard to avoid the other girls in class. There were the numbered npcs. Those six girls I relegated to One through Six in my head. I know they were real, living people, but I also knew those girls wouldn’t amount to much in the grand scheme of things. They were barely even mentioned in the original story.

Whenever I tried to think of them, I could only think of them as a number to fill the student count. Thus, those names. It wasn’t the reality here, of course. But I had a lot more to deal with and prepare for, I couldn’t spare the effort to know and learn about them. No, the problem was the duo; Best girl Ino-chan and cute tsuntsun Sakura-chan. I was just a teensy-weensy bit nervous. It was easy to stay out of their radar with Emosuke and Sunshine Brat taking all the class attention.

I hopped out of the bathroom, took my communication board, belt pouch with academy supplies, mine and Naruto’s bento, locked the apartment and left.

My morning routine was pretty set by this point. Get up, exercise, prepare food, run to Naruto’s apartment, wake up the brat, deliver the food, drag him to academy, try to learn how to be a good shinobi while the other kids were still treating this like playing and games.

Naruto grumbled all the way into class, but I ignored him. Damn brat still couldn’t read properly, talking with him was a pain. Not that I had the time today. Naruto went to do Naruto things. I glanced one last time over my own clothes, pushed an errant strand of hair out of my face. Heart beating a mile a minute, I walked inside the room reserved for the Kunoichi classes.

The setup was cool. A large room with a polished wooden floor gleaming under the sunlight streaming in from tall, paper-paneled windows. The walls were painted a soft lavender, dotted with scrolls depicting cherry blossoms and serene landscapes. Was that an attempt to create a feminine atmosphere? Low tables arranged in rows, each with a tea set and flower vases. At the far end of the room stood a tall shelf with colorful fabrics, ribbons, and labeled jars. Some of the labels read incense, dye, and herbal sachets.

In one corner, a mannequin draped in an elegant kimono stared back at me, blank face somehow judging. The entire room smelled faintly of sandalwood, and the atmosphere was quiet. Somehow, I was the first to arrive.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Lucky break! I moved inside, and sat in the uppermost corner desk. That way, the only person I’d need to worry about was the person sitting to my right and the teacher. Like they say, out of sight, out of mind.

Soon after, the Numbered NPCs entered the room. They sat at the back desks, small groups forming with enough gossip to keep them occupied. I had my own habits to keep. I got up, took my sweets, walked by the Numbers, gave each a candy, a smile, a thumbs up or a high five. They were already used to my idiosyncrasies. I even got a few smiles in return.

Best girl Ino and Tsun Sakura arrived together. Huddled, gossiping. They passed by me, Ino-chan looked up, saw me holding the candies. Sakura-chan said something, it sounded rude, but Ino took a candy, smiled, then gave me a quick hug.

That freaked me so much I fled to my own desk, much to the rest of the class’ amusement. Ino giggled especially loudly. Did she… do that on purpose? I mean, come on. I knew I had trouble dealing with the two, but come on.

That was so mean. Best Girl Ino should know I was her biggest fan. I couldn’t wait until she did it again.

Humm, there was something wrong with that wish.

Before I could figure out what was happening, the door opened again and in strode a kunoichi. I had expected, somehow, for the woman to be dressed in a luxurious kimono, face full of makeup, hair tied on a complicated updo. The kunoichi had long, curly, black hair and wore oval glasses along with red lipstick. Her outfit was a simple pink kimono with mesh armour underneath and a pair of baggy red pants with flip-flop-like sandals worn with socks. Totally not what I was expecting.

She crossed the room, stood in front of us. Face serious, eyes sharp.

“Welcome to your first Kunoichi class. I’m a chunin, you may call me Suzume-sensei. From me, you’ll learn things the silly brats out there couldn’t even dream about.”

I cast a glance around the room. That small speech got most of the class's attention.

“Look around,” Sensei said, gesturing to the room at large. “Everything in this room is a tool in our arsenal. Everything is a weapon of deception and information gathering.” Sensei pointed at the mannequin with the fancy kimono. “That kimono? It can conceal more weapons than normal utility pouches, it can also distract your target.” She pointed at the tea set. “The tea ceremony isn’t just about etiquette, it’s about controlling the flow of the room, reading your target’s body language, and maintaining composure under pressure and attention.”

I nodded, that made sense. I liked the idea of being the center of an intricate web of intrigue and lies. That looked very cool.

Suzume-sensei pointed to the flower arrangement. “The flowers you’ll arrange aren’t just decoration. They can be a hidden message, or a hidden weapon laced with poison. Your imagination is the only thing that will limit how you use these tools.”

There was a bit of a hubbub in class, girls gossiping and snickering. Somehow, that was enough to break all of sensei’s persona. She went from someone looking confident to something else.

“While you learn the subtle ways of a ninja, the brats outside are throwing kunai, getting stronger, and learning how to fight.” Another burst of giggles. Not sure why they were laughing, that was horrible. Suzume-glared at the whole class, or tried to, she looked more like a scaredy-cat, the act was there, but no way I felt intimidated by her. “Being a kunoichi is excelling in the subtle arts, and being equal, if not better than the brats. You are my students. If I catch any of you doing less than your absolute best, there will be hell to pay!”

A few girls burst out in open giggles, others just looked away. Sensei just stood there, looking now more nervous than I felt at the start. The woman shuffled, adjusted her glasses. “We’ll start with the tea-making ceremony.”

That was so strange. Was she a good or a bad kunoichi? Or maybe this was an elaborate act?

Sensei showed us the proper tea ceremony etiquette. I, and the whole gaggle of girls, didn’t miss that sensei cleaned the utensils four times before actually using it, or how she immediately dipped a napkin on some sort of liquid from a small transparent bottle and used that to clean her hands, face and arms. Wild.

But sensei’s quirks aside. It was time. I was going to brew the best tea ever!

Sakura and Ino-chan were again, glued at the hips. Giggling, talking and doing everything together. It was cute. They took their time at the cabinet, riffled through a lot of things, took a few others, returned to their desk, still giggling.

The numbered gaggle of NPCs caused an even greater mess. I waited out the whole hush hour. Once it had ended, I approached the cabinet to get my own supplies.

Like I guessed. It was an utter mess. Pots misplaced, labels missing, doors that weren’t open now ajar. I glanced at the chaos. I couldn’t find the labels I had seen when entering the room. Poked around in the upper compartment, but it was nowhere in sight. I looked at the lower parts of the cabinets. There was a lot more stuff there, most of it unlabeled as well.

A particular sachet caught my attention, it had dried grey leaves inside. It did look like those tea sachets often used in the before. Another scan didn’t produce the tea leaves Sensei told us to use. Hum, that got me thinking. Could I do a modern tea making style? Sensei might not approve, but I had the impression she wouldn’t scold me for some reason. Yeah, I liked that idea.

I fiddled with the glass container where the sachet was, had a bit of trouble getting the thing open. So many locks. But I persisted. I snagged a sachet and returned to my desk.

Ready to dazzle sensei, the numbered npcs and the star duo. I got to work.

Fire started, water into the pot. I waited until it boiled. From sensei’s example, we shouldn’t let the water boil, but again, modern way of doing stuff, always boil the water. I moved the boiling water to the teapot, took a cup and placed the sachet inside. I poured piping hot water.

There was this acrid smell. The water bubbled a bit strangely. Was I missing something? Ah, yes. Can’t be modern tea without sugar. I got up, ran to the cabinet, took the crystalline treat, returned to my seat.

The teacup was… not like I was expecting. It somehow had faint bubbles, and the acrid smell was stronger. Had I got a bad batch of tea? I shrugged, if it tasted bad, I could just make some more.

I poured in the sugar. The bubbling fizzled, hissed, popped.

Hum, did I mess up? I didn’t have time to consider more. Sensei was by my side. Faster that I could see, she threw the teapot away. It hit the wall. Then it expanded, like those science experiments when you place the thingy inside the catalyst and it grows. One of those growths hit an open fire, then the whole thing burst with flames. There was this moment where the world seemed to freeze. Then, the whole thing exploded.

It threw the whole class room to the ground. I felt the impact through my whole body. The colors, the flames, the anticipation before the impact. It was… beautiful.