Land of Waves Central Elementary School
The soft scritch-scritch of chalk was the only sound in the classroom. At the front, the teacher was writing on the blackboard, her hand leaving a trail of elegant characters in its wake.
Temari's eyes were fixed intently on those characters, but her mind was a million miles away, lost in a wandering daydream.
It had been two months since she transferred to the Land of Waves.
The initial confusion and apprehension had slowly faded, replaced by a tentative sense of settling in.
This country was far more accepting than she had imagined.
Here, she didn't have to worry about being ostracized for being from Sunagakure. Both her classmates and teachers treated her just like anyone else.
But one thing still bothered her: she seemed to be the oldest student in the class. Even though she was a girl, when she stood up, she was a good half-head taller than the other students.
Even though she was learning new things and didn't mind going back to school for more education, this reality still made her feel a little self-conscious.
"Miss Temari? Miss Temari?"
A soft calling sound snapped her back to reality. Temari instinctively shot to her feet and shouted, "Here!"
The entire classroom fell silent for a moment.
Temari herself immediately sensed something was off and hurriedly apologized. "Sorry, teacher, I…"
"Miss Temari, please answer the question I just wrote," said the short-haired female teacher with a gentle, smiling voice. "In the shinobi world, what is the tax rate on farmers in the Five Great Nations?"
"Sixty percent," came a very quiet prompt from behind her.
Without thinking much, Temari answered, "Sixty percent!"
"Incorrect," the short-haired teacher shook her head and sighed. "The current agricultural tax in the shinobi world is eighty percent."
"I-I'm sorry…" Temari hung her head, her face burning with embarrassment.
She felt ashamed.
Not only had she embarrassed herself, but she'd also embarrassed Sunagakure.
'But wait, the agricultural tax was eighty percent?'
That was a bit beyond what she'd expected. How could farmers survive after handing over eighty percent of their yield?
"Please sit down, Miss Temari," the short-haired teacher sighed, then turned her gaze to the strange creature sitting behind Temari. "Mr. Zetsu! If you continue to cause disruptions in class, I will have no choice but to contact your guardian."
"Tch." Zetsu turned his face away in displeasure but didn't say anything else.
Of course. Internally, he was fuming!
'Why on earth was that bastard Hayashi Yuto his guardian?'
They weren't related in the slightest! Having him as a guardian made it seem like the guy was his damn father!
His mother was the glorious Rabbit Goddess! Was that guy even worthy to stand in her shadow?
He wasn't even worthy of shining her shoes!
Humiliation!
For Zetsu, having Yuto as his guardian was an epic-level humiliation!
It was also the thing he hated most for others to bring up.
Temari, unaware of Zetsu's internal turmoil, just considered his pranks the biggest annoyance she'd faced since coming to Wave Country.
—
Ding ling ling, The school bell rang, signalling the end of class.
Temari picked up her bag and walked out of the classroom.
She paused for a moment in the hallway around the corner, waiting.
Soon enough, Kankuro, yawning widely and dressed in his student uniform, came into view.
"Did you pull another all-nighter?" Temari asked, frowning.
"Uh, no," Kankuro replied, his expression awkward.
"No?" Temari put her hands on her hips, glaring at him angrily. "Then what's with the dark circles under your eyes? And why do you look so completely drained?"
"Th-thats…" Kankuro couldn't find an excuse immediately, his eyes started to dart around nervously.
"We came to this country to study, not to play that stupid game!" Temari glared at him, fuming. "Staying up all night, pulling all-nighters just for a game—how much are you actually learning?"
"Valley of the End is not a stupid game; it's a groundbreaking masterpiece!" Kankuro took a deep breath, defending it vehemently. "It was developed personally by Lord Yuto! Are you saying you want to insult him, too?"
Temari was taken aback,speechless.
A lot of people in the shinobi world had issues with Yuto, even complaining and cursing him behind his back. But she didn't feel that way. On the contrary, she was quite grateful to the leader of the Wave Country.
Life here was much better than it had been in Sunagakure. Both of her brothers were gradually becoming more... human.
Exactly!
In her eyes, they really hadn't been very human before!
Their minds were full of nothing but fighting and killing, never ending a mission without leaving the target a bloody mess.
This was especially true for Gaara.
For such a young boy, the sheer visceral terror he exuded when killing was chilling.
The sand bandits around the Land of Wind would literally piss themselves just hearing his name!
It was only after coming to Land of Waves and receiving a month of counselling and education that Gaara began to gradually develop a true sense of humanity. He was no longer just that monster filled with violence and bloodlust.
But that was one thing.
While she was grateful for Leader Hayashi's care for her and her brothers, his heavy promotion of this "Valley of the End" game was really a bit…
"Can playing games put food on the table?" Temari asked, unable to comprehend it.
"Yes!" Kankuro suddenly declared loudly. "If you can reach Master rank or higher in the ranked matches, you get a subsidy! 100,000 ryo a month! That's enough to support all three of us!"
"100,000 ryo a month?" She couldn't help but gasp at the figure.
The cost of living in Wave Country was low, so the baseline wages weren't very high either.
Earning ten thousand ryo a month was considered a high income. 100,000 was proper upper-class money!
But Temari wasn't completely swayed. She took a breath and asked, "So... what rank are you now?"
"Brave Brass IV."
"How far is that from Master?"
"I-it's close! I'm really good with "Sasori of the red sand"! I'm a top-tier player in the entire server!"
"Really?"
"O-of course!"
"Don't let him fool you. Brass is the second-lowest rank," a familiar voice interjected suddenly.
Temari and Kankuro looked over, their expressions freezing in unison.
"G-Gaara?"
"You're out of the hospital?"
Indeed.
The red-haired boy standing behind them was their younger brother, Gaara! He had been kept under observation at the hospital due to his… mental state, but here he was.
"Mm. The medical-nin Shizune said I'm basically fine now," Gaara nodded calmly. "I can start attending school from tomorrow."
"That's great! That's really great!" Temari felt tears of joy welling up.
"Sorry for always worrying you, sister," Gaara said, his eyes clear.
"No, as long as you're safe and sound, that's all that matters," Temari said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "What were you saying just now? Brass is the second-lowest rank?"
"Correct," Gaara confirmed with a nod. "Below Brass is Iron, which is the absolute bottom. And the so-called 'top-tier player in the entire server' being in the top 1000 still counts as 'top-tier,' doesn't it?"
"Kankuro!" Temari yelled angrily, turning her head.
Seeing the situation turning south, Kankuro immediately turned tail and ran, kicking up a cloud of dust in his wake.
_____
_______
Show your support with Power Stones guys!
[email protected]/Raven_scroll (30+ Advance Chapters)