“-and that’s Miso Jo’s, Chie and I order from there whenever one of us gets sick. They’ve got this ultra spicy soup that clears your sinuses. I tried it when I wasn’t sick one time, and I was on the pot for the whole night after.”

  Gera and Pakin were on their way to the Lake District to get Pakin signed up for school. Gera had started an impromptu tour as they walked, pointing out restaurants she frequented, stores she avoided for their high prices or rude owners, and dropping the odd fun fact about a curious landmark.

  Gera pointed to a birch tree standing alone in grassy plot, marking the middle a tiny market circle. “That’s the Birch Market. Whenever a new stall opens up, they nail a single ryo coin to the tree for good luck.”

  Pakin saw what had to be hundreds of coins nailed to the tree. All packed so tightly together, they looked like golden scales slowly taking over the tree's bark. He commented, “That’s a lot of coins.”

  “Yeah. I’ve seen, like, fifteen different stalls get replaced just this year. Competition’s pretty stiff this close to Lake Tanizoko. I hear rent is crazy high in some of the buildings on the water’s edge.”

  Gera and Pakin continued on their way. Pakin noticed a growing number of places explicitly marketed towards the village's shinobi as they neared the lake. Posters advertised apartments with gyms equipped to handle chakra empowered workouts. Equipment stores sold weapons, flak jackets, and paper for fuinjutsu. Information brokers, martial arts dojos, job finders, and more popped up between the usual food stops and grocery stores.

  Pakin would occasionally glance at the pillars he spotted on the way, and compare them to the behemoths he could see awaiting him. They reached the Lake District around mid-morning, joining the people of the village who were just beginning their day.

  That’s a crazy view. Pakin marveled at the pillars' effect on the rising sun’s light. They were so big that only long, solid beams of light landed on the buildings ringing the lake. It created a gorgeous striped pattern of sun rays that was only enhanced by the placid waters of the lake refracting those same beams back onto the pillars.

  Gera let Pakin take in the scene before motioning towards the closest pillar and saying, “Come on, it looks even better from above.”

  Pakin followed his teacher, walking up the lake’s western promenade. They reached the pillar and Pakin noted how busy it was, even this early in the morning. A packed cobble sidewalk surrounded the pillar, while three short queue trailed out from the trio of elevators granting access to the building above.

  “This is the Mission Pillar.” Gera supplied. “It’s always hella busy, cause of the mission hall up top and because it’s the main way to reach the other Council Pillars.” She walked them up to one of the lines, and they patiently waited for the elevator to return and guide them upwards.

  Pakin noted that a few shinobi disappeared before they reached the line. He wondered where they’d jetted off to, until Gera patted him on the shoulder and pointed about halfway up the rock wall in front of them. Pakin could barely make them out, but he saw a dozen flickers that jumped sporadically up the pillar’s face to reach a balcony attached to the massive structure above.

  “Oh, why don’t more people do that?” Pakin scanned the line and saw plenty of shinobi waiting for the elevator, along with Gera and him.

  “Mostly because it’s a pain in the butt, and it wears you out. You’ve gotta flicker straight up and kick off the sheer rock until you reach the top. The folks down here are smart, at least as far as I’m concerned. It’s just a short wait, and you don’t have to get all sweaty making your way up there.”

  Pakin made an appreciative noise and tried to count how many people chose to climb versus wait for the elevator.

  He’d counted forty waiters and twenty climbers before reaching the front of the line. The elevator dinged, and he and Gera joined several others inside the lift. Pakin was stuck close to the back of the elevator, and tried standing on his tippy toes to see beyond the throng of taller shinobi occupying the space with him. He was unsuccessful, but judging by the chuffs and giggles from those around him, he’d at least made a few folks laugh.

  The elevator reached the peak of its ascent quickly and Pakin rushed out of the elevator. He quickly scanned the space he entered before spotting the outside wall and dashing towards it. They weren’t floor-to-ceiling glass like in Gera’s apartment building, but the windows still provided a decent view of the city below.

  “Woah, it looks like a diorama.” Pakin’s eyes grew wider, as he tried to take in as much of the view as possible with his child-sized retinas.

  Gera tousled his hair and despite his protests, pulled him away from the view. “We’ve got paperwork to do, kiddo.” Pakin folded his arms and begrudgingly let himself be dragged away.

  Gera led them through the building’s hallways and corridors, before exiting outside onto one of the large stone bridges that connected the seven Council Pillars to each other.

  The walkways were incredible, each one with offshoots crisscrossing towards different buildings, sometimes terminating in circular open-air pagodas without connecting any pillars at all. Gera had to grab ahold of Pakin again to stop him from wandering off to look at the incredible feats of engineering and architecture.

  Gera grunted as Pakin kicked his legs ineffectually, “Storm and Sea kid, you’ll be here for at least a year. You can wait a little while to go sightseeing.”

  Pakin stopped fighting her momentarily, saying, “Oh yeah. Sorry, it’s just all so fricking cool.”

  Gera laughed at her student and let him go, causing him to fall flat on his butt. He turned back to glare at her, but she was already walking away.

  They walked across several more bridges before coming to the centralmost pillar. The building attached to it was longer than the others, taking up more vertical space on the pillar. It also had another similarly shaped building jutting off from its underside, connected by a large square limb.

  “This is the Patience Pillar, but most people just call it the Academy Pillar. That weird little building hanging off the bottom is the Polisher Program Annex. That’s where you’ll be taking classes.” She pointed to the strange offshoot building, and Pakin wondered what class would be like in such a fantastical construction.

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  They continued on, entering the Academy. They walked through hallways and upstairs, only encountering three stray shinobi on their way.

  School’s out, so it’s pretty empty. But dang, this place is enormous. It’s gotta be able to house a couple hundred students at a time. Pakin wondered how that worked, since the anime only showed Naruto’s class at the Academy in Konoha, and that was only for a few episodes at a time. I can’t remember what they learned there. Most of the stuff they showed was just Naruto and his classmates goofing around.

  Pakin crested the final set of stairs and stepped through a pair of double doors into an administrative-looking section of the school. It had an open floor plan, like you’d expect from a corporate office space in a movie. The smell of paper and the sound of hushed conversation drifted over him as he took in the subdued but constant activity of the room. At least two dozen adults shuffled to and fro, sat at desks looking over papers, or were having quiet discussions with peers. The combat gear and brightly colored hair of the shinobi created a surreal effect over the professional atmosphere.

  Gera walked them over to a large circular desk off the side of the floor and waved hello to the teen seated behind it. He was easily the youngest person in the room, with a round face, and white hair and dark skin that was common in Lightning. He was built solidly, with a bit of softness around his cheeks and stomach that made him seem approachable. He wore his headband tied to one shoulder of the classic Kumo flak jacket, and a forest bright blue combat blouse underneath covering the rest of his torso.

  “Hey Gera, what’s up?” He yawned and waved back at Gera. “This your recruit?”

  Gera nodded proudly and announced, “Yep! This is my star pupil and future valedictorian, Pakin!”

  Pakin scratched the back of his head with an abashed expression and offered his hand to Goro, “Hello. I’m Pakin, I’m not sure about valedictorian, but I’m excited to start learning here.”

  Goro chuckled lightly and took Pakin’s hand, “Pleasure to meet you, I’m Goro. Also, don’t count yourself out just yet, kid. Anyone who can keep up with Gera has got promise.” Gera preemed at the statement until Goro stage whispered to Pakin, “Plus, you’ll only need half the patience.”

  “Hey!” Gera shouted, incensed, but Goro laughed her off and led Pakin over to an empty desk.

  Pakin sat down and waited as Goro returned to his desk and retrieved a clipboard holding a pen and a couple sheets of official-looking paper. “Here ya go bud. Just feel these out, and then you can move on to the interview portion.”

  That caused Pakin to snap to attention, asking Goro, “Interview?” but the older boy motioned for him to calm down.

  “It’s no big deal, the program director just likes to meet with each candidate when they sign up. It’s a formality more than anything.”

  Pakin deflated back into his seat, anxieties partially relieved as he thought, If it was really important, Gera would’ve prepped me for it. So, he started filling out the paper as Gera plopped into one of the chairs next to him.

  It only took him a few minutes to complete the forms, jotting down things like his birthday, name, hometown, and some basic information about his parents. The last page was more interesting. It was written like a waiver, asking him to confirm his intent to join the program and providing an extensive list of possible outcomes for the program, ranging from injury to psychological trauma.

  This is kind of sketchy. Most kids won’t understand what half of what this means, and the other half will be too excited about becoming a ninja to care. He tried to push the thought away, but he felt it snag on the corners of his mind.

  Pakin stood up and walked over to Goro, who took the paperwork. Goro looked it all over and nodded in approval saying, “Alright, now if you’ll follow me to Jonin Osako’s office.”

  Pakin swallowed down the lump in his throat and turned back to his teacher for reassurance. She met his gaze and thrust a thumbs-up at him, mouthing ‘Good luck’. He returned her gesture half-heartedly and followed behind Goro as they crossed the office space.

  Pakin was surprised when Goro led them out the doors and back into the school proper. He walked Pakin around what felt like half the building before approaching an elevator and pushing the button to call it.

  “So, did you know Gera before, or was the recruitment program your first time meeting her?”

  The elevator dinged, and they entered. Goro pushed the button for the first floor, and Pakin replied, “She was my babysitter before she left to become a kunoichi. But, she’s really different from how she was back then.”

  Goro raised his brows and asked with obvious intrigue, “Really? Got any embarrassing stories to tell?” He wiggled his eyebrows provocatively, and Pakin giggled.

  “Not really,” Pakin recalled the first memories old Pakin had with Gera. “She was still pretty excitable and fun. She lacked all the confidence she has now, though, and she wasn’t as goofy.”

  She also seemed more at peace, Pakin thought as he recalled all the times on their trip when he caught Gera staring into the middle distance. A melancholic sadness would overtake her in those moments, but if she noticed Pakin staring, she’d quickly change tack by spouting off some joke or tousling his hair.

  “Hmmmm.” Goro chewed on the information as the elevator slowed and opened its doors, releasing them. They exited and Goro walked straight towards a sloping hallway through a set of double doors on the opposite wall. A plaque labeled “Polisher Annex” hung above the hallway.

  They continued in silence down the connection into a more cramped hallway than the one they’d left. It was a short walk before they reached a set of sliding doors labeled ‘Program Director’ and Goro knocked.

  “Jonin Osako? I have a Polisher recruit ready for interview.” Pakin heard a muffled curse from behind the door shortly before it slammed open to reveal an imposing woman.

  She was really tall and buff as hell. She wore a pair of black, camo army pants complemented by a gray tank top decorated with a cloud motif Pakin had seen throughout the village. Her arms were tan, toned, and scarred, contrasting with the beautiful blonde hair, resting on her left shoulder in a long, neat braid. Her hazel eyes were currently glaring daggers at Goro, who was shrinking further into himself by the second.

  She let out a long, frustrated breath and smoothed her face into a more neutral position. “Goro, I thought I asked you to page me before sending students through for an interview?”

  Goro grimaced and stammered out, “I-I-I’m sorry, Director Osako, Principal Musashi told me not to page the annex anymore.” He averted his eyes and muttered, “He said it was a waste of electricity.”

  Osako facepalmed and growled, causing Goro to start bowing and apologizing profusely. She laid a hand on his shoulder and straightened the teenager out, telling him, “It’s oka,y Goro, just… let me talk to him. In the meantime, just push the button for my office twice in a row to signal me. That should keep the cost low, right?”

  Goro nodded vigorously and said, “Of course, great idea, director!”

  Osako shook her head and finally seemed to spot Pakin, standing awkwardly off to one side.

  “Ah, the recruit, right. Come on in.” She took the paper clip with Pakin’s paperwork and ushered the boy inside. “You can head back to the office, Goro, I’ll send him back when we’re done.” Goro quickly took his leave, making Pakin feel sorry for the guy.

  Poor dude, stuck as the middleman for office politics. Pakin entered the office and offered a silent prayer for Goro.