Paranoia of the Starved |Kankuro|

Chapter 8

        My training persisted, consuming every drop of free time I managed to get my hands on. Although I was glad, since with my monthly check from whoever was my sponsor, I no longer had to steal to feed Pako.

So every morning, I would go to school and then train with Shiruma-sensei. Occasionally I was just assigned tasks to do while he was away. Then after training was concluded at sunset, or until Shiruma-sensei told me stop, I would eat dinner, buy some chicken for Pako, feed her, and then go home and pass out.

I was busier as a child than I was as an adult.

I sighed as I slumped against my desk tiredly. Gaara watched me silently while Kankuro and Temari glanced back at me. I felt Kankuro's eyes linger there for a moment longer before he asked me quietly, "tired?"

I simply nodded back in return. My left arm was sore from being compelled to actually use it, but whenever I threw kunai or shuriken, or even do chakra control exercises, it felt easier. Like I had more control. Even so, my handwriting was still crap; I longed to write with my dominant right hand again.

Nakomi-sensei suddenly went from teaching us about hiragana, to standing up and writing something on the board: 'fuinjutsu.'

"As you may know, we are currently learning about hiragana and kanji, two different ways to write. Hopefully you have been paying attention, because this lesson might be beneficial to you in your career." He tapped on the word on the board. "Fuinjutsu is as the name suggests, the art of sealing." He explained.

"Can someone tell me what seals are used for?" He asked the class, turning to face us again.

I watched as Kankuro quickly raised his hand, and Nakomi-sensei motioned towards him. "Yes, Kankuro?"

"Explosions!"

"Yes, explosive tags are seals, anything else?" No one else raised their hands and I slowly raised mine.

"Silence?" I suggested quietly.

"Yes, silence! Can anyone think of anything else?" He asked, looking around the room. I had a few ideas, but kept my mouth shut.

"Well, fuinjutsu can be anything your heart desires. You can set traps, you can seal items, you summon animals even, the possibilities are limitless!" He proclaimed. "Although, it is very difficult to become a fuinjutsu master, and they are very rare to come by." He explained.

He paused for a moment, the room was silent for him to continue speaking. "So that the village can hopefully produce other fuinjutsu masters, you're able to take part in a remedial class that will be teaching you the basics."

"Although, this class is not for everyone and you will be taken out if you can't keep up," He pulled out a sheet of paper as he spoke, "If you are interested in learning fuinjutsu, just sign here and you will be enrolled into the class on the second half of physical training," he concluded.

I got up along with a few other kids, one of my bullies, Yuno, and some kids I didn't know the names of. I wrote my name of the piece of paper as neatly as I could, with pen. I was anxious about someone erasing my name off the roster.

After that interaction, I returned to my seat and decided to actually pay attention to the lesson on hiragana.

Soon enough we were outside running laps, and he handed us one kunai each. "I have been told that I should be teaching you all to throw kunai in a different manner," Nakomi-sensei delivered a glance in my direction.