Searching at the Academy

Mission Info:

Based on the most recent reports, Kannagi deduced that the most likely place to find children outside of their own homes, with their parents or older siblings as guardians, would be the school that they attend. She had not personally attended the Academy herself; the Irezumi family taught all of their children from a young age, gifted with usage of chakra and not, within their own culture. Children of the Irezumi grew up at home, learning survival and tradition together from all of the present adults, learning to cook and care for others, learning to meditate and maintain focus, learning to defend oneself, all regardless of gender. Outside of that, girls were taught basic medical skills and mental wellness techniques and boys were taught extensive jutsu usage, hunting and fighting for the defense of the family. Irezumi very rarely entered the shinobi academy, but girls were never even given the option. Kannagi observed the buildings from outside, recognizing it from her first week in Nikkousato on her own, four years ago.

She had been tested at the academy in order to enter the shinobi ranks; it was where she earned her forehead protector and became a genin. Other than that, she had no memories of this place. The other children must have recalled playing games with each other, tossing a ball around, wrestling in the sand, or painting large murals together with globs of red paint clinging to stubby fingertips. Sure, they learned and practiced techniques too, but her imagination created a joyful place where the kids could also just be kids. She roamed around outside of the building this afternoon, students sent home for the day. She found the small training grounds outside with training dummies that would only be the right size for someone who was half of her height. The dummies were arranged in two very open half circles across a field from each other. Various posts in between made of wood and stone constructed for Kannagi the idea that these could be used for practicing balance, chakra control, or speed. The woman examined each dummy and each post, running her hands over the indents where kunai had been lodged or the dark smears where a jutsu must have been deployed.

For all of her searching, Kannagi began to feel like it was in vain. The most she had recovered in the training grounds was a handful of random senbon, a single shuriken she had plucked from the head of one of the dummies, and a forehead protector damp from the earth. She would have to return these to the academy before leaving of course. Overall, this place had probably already been scoured by shinobi in the wake of the missing students. She turned to walk away from the grounds when a small twinkling in the grass caught her eye. The blue haired kunoichi turned on her heel and went to inspect it, lifting it up from the ground. It was a small golden hair pin with a butterfly on the end. Definitely belonging to a child, Kannagi flipped it over in the sunlight. Colors streamed through the glass wings of the butterfly, except for the right wing's distortion. The glass had been broken, possibly from being stepped on. She had no idea if this was a clue or if this was just the hair pin of some little girl who had been training just this morning, but it was worth it to turn it in just in case. When she examined it even more closely the initials R.F. were etched below the butterflies body, upon the golden pin's length.

WC: 603