"How old are you, seven? You shouldn't have to!"

"I'm plenty strong!"

"That's not the point!"

"Then what is?"

"Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should have to."

She doesn't look convinced. "They'll leave me alone once I learn how to punch harder, anyways."

"It's not okay to harass someone just because they can't punch you hard enough to deter it."

"Not okay to be weak either."

"Debatable. But they're not doing it to make you stronger."

"I know they're jerks who don't deserve to be ninjas. But I'm gonna be a ninja too, and I need to be able to protect myself."

"There are better ways to learn to do that!"

"You heard them. I don't have a clan to teach me."

"...I guess you have a point. Want to be an honorary Saotome?"

"That your clan?"

"Yep! Saotome Ranko, heir to the Saotome school of Anything-Goes martial arts, pleased to meet you!"

"...I'm Uzumaki Mariko. Pleased to meet you too."

"And like I said, I beat up a bunch of ANBU, so I'm probably way better to learn from than some random bullies!"

Small smile. "Probably. But why teach me. You just met me."

"Well, why not?"

"'Cause people don't like me."

"So far the people who don't like you seem to suck."

Another smile. "Are you a Konoha ninja?"

"I'm not a ninja at all! I'm from somewhere else, I got sent here by a magic mirror."

"How'd a mirror send you here?"

"Magic!"