<span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: palatino;">Midori decided that she was probably talking too much again, too used to talking to Sunako or wanting too badly for <em>someone</em> to want to talk to her. Uncle Kanetaro and Miss Jinmi were always talking about her, or talking down to her, but never really talking <em>to</em> her, and it was getting very lonely, to be honest. It would be more lonely without Sunako, though, and so Midori figured maybe she should just focus on her kitten mostly, because otherwise she got nervous and so many words would just keep pouring out of her mouth.<br/><br/>It was a problem, Hyuga Misaki was right. She should be quiet. No one else spoke so much.<br/><br/>Still, though Hyuga Ibiki was much nicer than his relative, Hyuga Misaki. He still did not talk much, but seemed to not be so annoyed with how much just came out of her mouth. He said something about that this academy was to train them to be spies and assassins. That was what Hyuga Misaki had said too, but Midori had thought that she had meant that was what she was going to be, or something. Hearing it for the second time made it more.. confusing and yet sit better than the first time. Assassins? The small girl wasn't sure if she could do that: kill people. She did not like to hurt anyone, honestly. But, then again, she could probably do the spying part, maybe.<br/><br/>Plus that would mean traveling, wouldn't it? She liked to travel, and was good at that. She knew a lot of good ways to go that were fast and not well traveled. So maybe she would be good at being a spy, if not an assassin. It wasn't something she had ever thought about being, actually. But she had always thought she would be a trader like Father. But Father did not want her with him any more, and Uncle Kanetaro and Miss Jinmi didn't really want her either. So this was maybe a good direction, and a good skill set to learn, right?<br/><br/>The small girl frowned slightly, thinking a bit. She wanted to know why she did not seem the type to want to learn these skills, but was thinking that she needed to be better at not saying too much, again. So, instead, she nodded a little, quietly trying to stifle the urge to babble at him again. It was probably getting on his nerves, too, even if he didn't have a short fuse like Hyuga Misaki did.<br/><br/>It was weird that he didn't know his relative's name, even though he had been sent away by him. Midori frowned a little more. It would be rude to say that aloud, though, so she just petted Sunako gently and pretended she hadn't heard what he said.<br/><br/>And then she couldn't help herself, "I felt very safe with Hyuga Junji walking me to Uncle Kanetaro's shop." she nodded a little, wanting to reassure Hyuga Ibiki that she did not doubt that she had been safe. Funny that he didn't know why people would be afraid, so she just nodded again at his suggestion. She couldn't ask her Uncle or his wife, since they both didn't like to talk to her like she understood them. At least Father would talk to her like he would talk to anyone else. It felt like Uncle and especially his wife, both thought that she was nearly an infant in her understanding of the world. It was part of why she did not engage with them as much.<br/><br/>Eventually, Hyuga Ibiki seemed to relax a little, letting his arms drop, so Midori felt a little better, too. Perhaps she wasn't annoying him? Not so much, anyway? <br/><br/>Still, though, she did not know what to say about the explanation of branch house and main clan. So... they were of the same family but not of the same family? That was weird, right? Really weird. A split family, but a big family, even though not everyone knew everyone? And then one part of the family was servants to the other?<br/><br/>To Midori, it didn't seem right, and she frowned at that again, glancing slightly towards Hyuga Misaki. They looked so similar, were they siblings? That would make it weirder, that one was of the main clan and one was a servant. She'd be mad, too, if she had to serve a sibling.<br/><br/>...if she'd had siblings, which she did not.<br/><br/>Oh, Hyuga Ibiki was leaving. "Thank you for speaking with me, Hyuga Ibiki. I enjoyed our conversation." When she wasn't thinking she was messing up, she had liked talking with him, anyway. And maybe expressing that would encourage him to want to interact with her more? He dipped his head at her, sort of almost bowing, and so Midori did the same in return, even though it was a little awkward from her sitting position. It was what was polite, and sometimes she forgot about it, much to Father's upset. Usually she was good about remembering, but... well, being left in this village had upset some of her normal habits.<br/><br/>Hyuga Ibiki left, and Hyuga Misaki put her head down, as if to nap, maybe. Quietly, Midori watched her for a little while, wondering if she was upset, but the small girl knew from experience that trying to help the other girl would not go over well. Still, she watched her for a little while, before finally deciding that she shouldn't go over and check on her.<br/><br/>The three kids up front were being rowdy, and the more they got in teasing each other, the more and more cranky that Teacher became. His eyes narrowed and his jaw set until he finally stood and stalked over to them.<br/><br/>"Hey brats, this is my lunch period too. If you're gonna be disruptive, go play outside. I don't want this sort of noise in here. Period. Got it?!" at the end, he even yelled a little, his temper showing.<br/><br/>The girl eyed him a moment, she really did seem like maybe the ring-leader of their little group, before she bowed, mumbled a "Sorry, Teacher" and lead her two friends outside. They hastily bowed as well before hurrying after, though it seemed they wanted to run, they didn't because the girl didn't. Midori thought that was smart, since running would show they were afraid, and even if Teacher wouldn't hold that against them, maybe some of the other kids would.<br/><br/>Not that there were many witnesses. She was here, and so was Hyuga Misaki, though her head was down, and Hyuga Ibiki was returning just as the three were leaving. And then there was the small kid who sat by himself quietly. He'd been very still the whole time, so Midori thought maybe he was sleeping sitting up.<br/><br/>Maybe tomorrow she would bring something to do. Already she had read all of the books Miss Jinmi had gotten for her, so maybe she could bring some paper, and could practice her handwriting some more. Outside, she could see and hear a lot of the kids playing, but Midori wasn't really interested in going out there with them, either. And walking back to her Uncle's home for lunch seemed unnecessary, and it would be awkward with his wife there, too. So she would find something else to do and to occupy herself with.<br/><br/>For now, though, she leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands, and her elbows on her desk, and proceeded to wait, quietly watching anything else that happened in the classroom...<br/><br/>____ ___ __ _<br/><br/>Noboru really couldn't stand children. Who the hell thought putting him in charge of this first batch of kids was a good idea, anyway? Certainly not him. He hated kids, but he'd been pulled from active duty to recover from some internal injuries, not enough that they showed, any more, but a few good hits to the right spot and he'd rupture something-or-other and probably die. He hadn't really been paying attention to the medical babble, anyway. Stupid doctors. Always so cautious.<br/><br/>Eventually, the kids trailed back in, after a bit of a boring lunch break. An hour really was too long, but it had been bargained for by the council, who thought that many of the larger clans would prefer to have their children home for lunch. Shows what they knew: the Aburame and the two Hyuga had stayed for their lunch break and had no problem. <br/><br/>Maybe when he recovered enough, some other poor sap would be forced to teach these brats.<br/><br/>"Hey brats! Settle down. We're going outside now, I expect you to be orderly and quiet. Most of your physical abilities were already tested, so none of that today. We're gonna start with nine laps around the track." Okay, so if he had to stuffer, so did they. Most kids didn't have stamina for the three from the first test. Eventually, they'd get trained to the point where the nine would be no problem, but today... well, he was cranky, and he'd push them hard in this part. "Your physical fitness is just as important to your ability to mould chakra as your spiritual energy. To help grow your physical energy, you need to train. So, get running! <em>Now!</em>" was there something he was missing? Oh, yeah, "No chakra use! That would be cheating!"<br/><br/>Many of the kids jumped, and all started running. The small Yuhara girl was not as far in front as she had been the first time, which was interesting, he noted. Many of the kids from the tests that had made it ran at their same speed as before. She seemed to be pacing herself, though, which was smart for a civilian. Mostly only the brats from the various shinobi families or clans would have been taught to do that. She still had that tiny kitten she was carrying around, though. What a strange child...<br/><br/>____ ___ __ _<br/><br/>Midori held Sunako on her shoulder again, thinking over Hyuga Misaki's suggestion of a bag to strap to her chest to hold her kitten. It still seemed like the little thing would bounce around too much, though, if that had been the case. Sure, she bounced on her shoulder, too, but Sunako was able to sink her claws into the girl's shoulder to help herself hang on, so that was okay.<br/><br/>Nine laps was a lot, it was three times the amount they had had to run in the test, and Midori saw already some kids were going to have trouble. Mori Chizue had started running as fast as she could, but by the fourth lap was lagging toward the back. There were a few like that, while Midori tried to keep her pace steady. If she kept going at a medium pace, she'd be able to make it all nine laps without having to stop for breath. It also made the run smoother for Sunako, who was learning quickly how to hang on without needing to be held onto. Still, it would be a little while before Midori felt comfortable letting the kitten hang on all on her own.<br/><br/>Eventually, she finished her nine laps, and immediately decided that walking another one would help to keep her from wobbling and collapsing like many of the other kids did when they finished. There were quite a few who hadn't even finished their sixth lap by the time she was half way through walking around to cool down. And even when she finished, she walked around, shaking out her arms and stretching her back and trying hard not to give into the urge to lay in the grass. That was maybe the longest she'd ever run, but it felt good. Really, the small girl did like to run.<br/><br/>Sunako hummed softly in her ear, in her indicator that she was sleepy, so Midori tucked the furball back into her pocket, now that they weren't running any more.<br/><br/>By the time the rest of the kids finished up, Teacher jumped right into the next task, "Okay, brats, next is target practice. We're still starting with balls, like at the tests. I don't want anyone getting stabbed until later, understood?"<br/><br/>...Stabbed? Well, that made Midori wonder just what the balls were a replacement for...</span>