'Finally something! Come little kids, show me the innards of who you are.'
Clearly, she was also a person with her own pile of issues.
As a person who had the talent to empathise, understand and read people while also having to manipulate and often kill those very people she empathized with as part of her kunoichi duties, Inori had developed certain ways to cope.
She was aware of them, and what they were but so long as they allowed her to perform her duties at peak effectiveness, then they were useful things she would make no attempt to be rid of.
One of the more mild ways was to make a common exercise out of reading others, repeating the actions until it became so banal it lost meaning and with everyone she interacted being on that level of understanding, any wrongful actions taken against them would not be as meaningful.
That that caused a number of other issues in and of itself, let us save those for another time and get back to the matter at hand.
Being in charge of a genin team was a duty Inori had never undertaken before, that said, she was very suited, skill wise, to guide others.
The first step she decided upon, was to leave her little students alone in the classroom for a while and observe their reactions in order to try and get a preliminary read on them.
And after a period of waiting, something finally occurred.
*
*Hiii*
With a weird sound being produced from her poorly functioning vocal cords, Shinka almost jumped up in the air as she stood up and instantly back stepped out of Shiki's vicinity.
"So you were indeed sleeping." Shiki pointed out with not a shred of delicacy.
The privilege of being a literal child he had once declared to Tsunade.
Mei was startled out of her reading session and looked to her side.
{Don't suddenly touch me like that!} Shinka, hurriedly signed with trembling and startled arm movements, so fast they left a blur in the air as they moved.
"My apologies Shinka-san." Shiki honestly bowed his head since touching someone out of nowhere is indeed rude.
Though Shinka was not responding and it technically was her fault, he could have always shouted.
Whatever the case, arguing with women and children was never a good idea, arguing with girls, female children was the worst of all.
'That said, the reaction was a bit too extreme . . . Hmm . . .' The boy's brain, always seeking explanations for the smallest of things, started to generate suspicions in his mind.
{It's okay. I wasn't paying attention either . . .} The embarrassed girl signed in response.
{Please don't do it again though . . .} She added.
For a moment, it seemed as if she was going to sign something else in addition but she ended up putting her arms down.
Mei who was still piecing the situation together didn't notice but Shiki and the peeping Inori certainly did.
'Suspicious . . .' The white haired boy thought.
The Yamanaka jonin on the other hand, seemed much more informed.
'Ah! That girl did indeed . . .' She trailed off internally.
'Shiki thought, that dreadful feeling is still there but he is acting very normally. He seems very astute and mature, he definitely notices the small cues unintentionally given off by those two girls but other than that . . . Mhm . . .'
'Could it be that he has no knowledge of his own condition?' Inori posited.
'No, there is no way he could not tell.' She dismissed her theory.
'But maybe if it has not fully manifested or if it manifested in another way, then the boy might not have realized his true nature.'
Unknowingly, Inori was approaching the truth that Shiki was unconsciously ignoring and Mito had not realized due to her closeness to Shiki.
Realizing that the conversation would not keep going unless he kept it going, Shiki spoke out again.
"Anyways, I just wanted to talk, so to speak . . . Hehehe, with Shinka-san since we are now Team 6."
Somehow, beneath all the clothing, despite her unchanged posture, the boy could tell how deadpan the response was to his little double pun.
{Why don't you speak to Mei-san instead?} Shinka signed a question in response.
"I already spoke a bit with Mei-san yesterday, during the exams, so I thought I would take this time to get to know Shinka-san better." Shiki replied.
'He really does not speak like a child does he. So wordy, he is not trying to appear smarter or more mature either, it's just how normally speaks.' Inori noted from her hiding spot.
Shinka, on the other hand, fell silent for a bit.
'I guess I should communicate with him . . . All things considered, it is the right move.' The overly clothed girl thought to herself before formulating a response.
{That is okay.} She signed.
*poof*
But before things could proceed further, Inori popped out of nowhere in a cloud of smoke, allowing Shiki to get the first real look at his sensei.
Loose, calf length, straight, light blonde hair with purple highlights at the tips, it seemed as if each strang was shining and it gave off a feeling of smoothness even without touching. A long, wide, curved bang covered the right side of her face, giving an air of mystery.
The uncovered left side of her face showed beautiful sharp features, a bright sky blue, pupiless eye and beautifully shaped lips with dark red lipstick curled in a casual yet elegant, serene yet sensual smile.
She wore a short, sleeveless, purple top that hid her bountiful chest but left her entire midriff and navel exposed.
A low waisted, long, purple skirt wrapped around her legs all the way to the middle of her calves, not being fully stitched together on the right side so it could open up and provide a full range of motion for combat.
Elegant, custom shinobi sandals with a thick high heel went up to her knees.
She was the very picture of a beautiful, sensual, adult, woman that would capture the eyes and heart of any male and provoke feelings of inadequacy and jealousy in other females.
"Greetings sensei!"
{Greetings sensei.}
Shiki and Shinka immediately bowed their heads while greeting, with Mei who had been uncomfortably shifting in place after looking at Inori, lagging a bit but silently bowing after.
'This Uchiha girl had quite a cute reaction.' Inori evaluated.
'Shinka is of course unaffected.' Clearly, the blonde was already familiar with this mysterious girl to some extent.
'And this boy Shiki . . . Well, regardless of how mature he acts, there is no way my charm would have a powerful effect on a four year old.'
'But, everybody likes beautiful things, regardless of age and beautiful people are treated better, most of the time it's not even a conscious decision on others' part.'
"Alright students! Sorry for the delay." Inori started.
"Let's start with some introductions shall we. Names, hobbies, likes, dislikes, dreams, that sort of thing."
With no one stepping up, before things could become awkward, Shiki stepped up to introduce himself first.
'Quite socially aware for a kid. Children often sense these things better unconsciously but he is cognizant of the situation and acts upon it.'
'The Uchiha girl is skilled but unsure of herself, largely owing to her situation in her clan I assume, which leads to her hesitating and makes her lag behind others.'
'Shinka is just being herself. If you don't address her directly, she will not even respond. Socially awkward would be putting it mildly. Especially with all her other issues.'
Even as the conversation advanced, Inori was rapidly picking apart the three kids' minds.
"My name is Ryumon Shiki . . ."
+++++
Hey, Author here!
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -