Become a Shinobi Ch. 8
By Eliad Sholomovich

**Two Days Later**

It was Sunday morning and Ibuki was out of the hospital. She was wearing her school uniform and watching the Tokyo scenery from her mom's car. She dreaded the thought of what those nosy kids at school would think of her condition. She had a black eye and her arms and legs were covered with blue marks. Luckily they couldn't see the bandages that supported her injured ribs because they were under her shirt. She sighed.

"Well why should I care what they think? Sarai and I know the truth and that all that matters." She then sighed again. "Who am I kidding? It痴 gonna be h*ll. I can take care of any nosy students, I just hope the teachers don稚 make a fuss." They arrived outside the school.

"OK honey have a great day," her mom said. "And remember what the doctor said: No fighting your body needs to recover." Ibuki smiled.

"Alright mom. Later" she kissed her mom's cheek and pulled her backpack over her shoulders. She left the car and walked up the school stairs. She looked at her wristwatch. "Ten minutes 奏il class. Good" she muttered and walked towards her homeroom class. She ignored the silent whispers and glances she received from students she passed. She entered her homeroom and sat by Sarai. "Morning Sarai" Ibuki said. Sarai turned and smiled.

"Morning to you too Ibuki-chan so you feeling better?" she asked with a sweet smile.

"Yep, I feel like a million bucks" she said sarcastically and rolled her eyes.

"Lighten up, things will be good. Don't worry," Sarai assured and patted her back. As the bell rang and her teacher Mrs Chang entered Ibuki silently counted in her mind "Three... two... one..." and then she heard a gasp.

"My god Ibuki, what happened to you?" The teacher asked in a concerned voice. Ibuki sighed.

"Nothing Mrs Chang really." Ibuki answered trying to avoid the subject. The lesson passed silently. Ibuki felt quite uncomfortable as the lesson spoke about violence in the family and how kids deny it. She felt the people look at her and whisper. Ibuki face turned to a faint shade of red. "I won't snap... I won't snap..." she repeated in her head. People continued whispering on how it was probably her dad coming home drunk or her mom in a fit of rage. Ibuki hand shook under the table and Sarai put her hand on her knee.

"Ibuki... calm down... don't make a scene... these people got no brains... there痴 no need to get angry" Sarai whispered into Ibuki's ear desperately trying to calm Ibuki's rage. Ibuki had never told anyone about her father's disappearance except Sarai and her Sensei Geki whom she trusted with her life. "How dare they...blame my mom for this... Blame my dad... I outta..." Ibuki thought as she clenched her teeth. The bell rang and Ibuki sighed in relief. She was about to leave the classroom when Mrs Chang called her. She glanced at Sarai with a look that showed how helpless and angry she felt.

"Stay calm... Good luck" she muttered as she waved and went off to her next lesson, as Mrs Chang insisted it should be a private talk.

"So... Ibuki is there anything you want to tell me? Something wrong at home maybe?" Mrs Chang asked. Ibuki licked her lips and exhaled.

"No nothing is wrong at home. My mom doesn't beat me I assure you. I got these from a group of thugs that jumped me in a alley" she replied. Mrs Chang looked sceptical.

"Are you sure?" Ibuki was starting to lose her temper.

"Of course I'm sure! Do you think I'm lying?! If you knew my mom you'd never imagine such rubbish!" she barked before she angrily walked out of the door while muttering "This conversation is over." and walked towards her History class.

The next three periods were all the same. Curious glances and whispers from students and a little "talk" after the class was over. She was relieved when the bell for the lunch break rang loudly. She met up with Sarai and walked to the Cafeteria. When she entered the room went silent until she went over to grab a tray. Even the cook asked if anything was wrong. Ibuki痴 tray shook slightly as her hands trembled with slight anger. "Yeah everything痴 just peachy. Can I please have some food now?" she said politely. "This is a test isn't it? To see if I can control my temper. Fate can be so cruel," she thought as she took her tray and sat at an empty table next to Sarai. Soon the cafeteria was normal again and Ibuki sighed in relief.

"Hi are you OK?" a voice asked from behind her. She muttered curses under her breath.

controlling herself Ibuki answered calmly "Yeah I'm fine thanks." She then turned to see Karin and Sakura sit by their table.

"Nasty street-fight right?" Karin whispered. Ibuki nodded slightly. "I know the feeling. Don't sweat it. I get it all the time too." Ibuki then remembered what she had to say to Karin.

"Erm... Karin I'm sorry I lost control. I could have really hurt you so I hope you can forgive me and that you feel OK." Ibuki said. Karin laughed silently "That痴 a first!" and she continued to chuckle silently. Ibuki raised a brow.

"What痴 so funny?"

"No one痴 ever apologised to Karin after a fight." Sakura answered. "She acts like such a snobbish little b*tch that nobody cares how she feels." Karin coughed.

"I should be the one apologizing really... Well I only act like that in fights cause I wanna annoy my opponent into making a mistake." She outstretched her hand. "I was really honored to fight you Ibuki. It would be an honor to be your friend" Ibuki was surprised. She had heard rumors of Karin's cruelty and pride and here she was honoring Ibuki. Ibuki shook her hand.

"It was a pleasure to fight you too. But just a hint: Don't use that trick too often. It might help against amateurs but from experience, annoying a trained fighter only makes him twice as deadly" Ibuki said and winked. Karin smiled.

"Well I must admit I mistook you for a rookie. I would never pull a stunt like that on someone professional."

"Well... Now that we've had this Kodak moment..." interrupted Sakura. "I'll tell you where I think Ryu is" she then smiled nervously due to Ibuki, Karin and Sarai glaring at her for her interruption.

"Go ahead Sakura" replied Ibuki. Sakura gave a sigh.

"Well last I heard he was heading towards China. So I reckon you should visit Gen's dojo in Hong Kong. If he was in China, Gen will know or direct you to someone else I'm sure."

"Thanks for the info," Ibuki said while smiling. "But it'll be a few weeks before I go lookin・for trouble as you can see."

The day ended a few periods later. Ibuki was happy even though the students and teachers and even the principal continued to pester her. "I've got two new friends, a contact to Ryu's whereabouts. Life is good. Let those people gossip their brains out. I don't care anymore" she thought and smiled as Sarai, Sakura, Karin and her walked towards the bus.