Almost half of the school year has passed and gone. Many of us have grown in that time. Through training and dedication, we overcome our past selves to do better to be greater. Some might see their progress through a promotion, a new skill, a higher record, or the other myriad ways of gauging one’s progress.
On an unsuspecting canyon cliff, a boy climbed a hand on a kunai, and the other held onto furrows made by said kunai.
Sweat dripped from his temple going down to his chin and wetting his already-drenched clothes. Every movement and every twitch of the muscle is important. If he were to make a mistake it would lead to a long fall.
He continued stabbing on the rocky cliffside strategically placing them in spots where it was less likely to give out. In one of those moments, he was stabbed in the side. A strong gust of wind impacted his tiny frame wobbling with the wind but he held on even tighter.
Finally, when he was almost over, reaching the edge of the cliff he used all the remaining energy he had left to push him over the edge and onto the earthy ground.
Rolling over to his back Tadao heaved heavy breaths his arms aching from the recent strain. Closing his eyes he tried to meditate to recover the chakra he spent on reinforcing his body.
He was disturbed in his meditation when Tsutaka, his mother’s ninkin, started pecking him on the gut. His eyes flew open with surprise and annoyance.
Grumbling at the disturbance Tao's eyes meet those of another black beady one “You want some a snack?” An approving Kaw was his response.
“You didn’t have to catch this but sure why not it’s not like the cost is coming from my pocket money.” Pulling out a whole chicken from a storage seal he had created on his bracers.
Watching Tsutaka consume the chicken in a few bites a thought came to his mind. “Tsutaka isn’t it weird that you eating another avian isn’t that like cannibalism?” The only response he got was an unimpressed stare. “Ok, I get it it a eat or be eaten and chicken can’t even fly so I shouldn’t lump with it.”
Relaxing his gaze Tsutaka sat back on the ground and closed its eyes. I have a feeling that the only reason he got annoyed was me calling the chicken an avian like him.
After feeling recovered enough I got back to my feet and walked towards Tsutaka. “Come on buddy, let’s go back, I still have practice later.”
Allowing me to ride on his back the unnaturally large harpy eagle let out an ear-defending kaw before taking flight gliding through the air.
The whiplash from the take-off left a miniature dust cloud where we just were. Looking outward I could spot the village if I were to hold out my arm it would look like grasping it.
The meters-high walls, and the people in the streets minding their business looked like a mere afterthought compared to the rest of the world. I relaxed feeling a serenity coming over me and closed my eyes before u knew it I fell asleep.
Noticing the companion’s child had fallen asleep, Tsutaka slowed his pace attempting to make a smoother trip to not wake the child up; he also coated him in his wind chakra to reduce the probability of falling.
He warned of the other rovers in the sky if they ever got close. When they were nearing the village Tsutaka woke the child from his slumber with an assiduous amount of force just enough to nudge him to wake.
The nudging of Tsutaka woke Tadao and when he opened his groggy eyes he could see the village visibly getting closer. Following an embarrassing moment of fruitlessly floundering he got his wits together and realized where he was.
“Tsutaka, it would have told what's going I thought I was gonna fall,” Tadao said, clasping Tsutaka’s feathers with an iron grip.
* ••
Tapping his foot, Instructor Tezuka looked at his watch as it closed on to 4 o'clock, the time when he was gonna start the lesson for the day.
In the room with him were Seiji Dango and Harumi, both reviewing our previous lessons from the day before.
He had thought that his problematic student would have Harumi her being an orphan and need more attention to catch the two other children but she surprised him with her eagerness and dedication to learn that in the short time they'd been working together, she had caught up to the two other boys going so far to ask for extra material to study.
Seiji Dango is another dedicated student as expected from instructor Seiichi, he wouldn't send anyone to him who lacks passion for the trade but where Harumi expressed so much zeal he feared she might experience burnout Seiji has a more laid-back attitude answering all his questions and assignment before they were due only to after sleep or goof of with Tadao.
Tadao, a prodigy in fuinjutsu, and a headache. Tadao took to fuinjutsu like fish in water breezing through the material where most would be stumped. He quickly understood them like he had former experience in fuinjutsu. He had asked the boy’s parents if they had tutored the boy or commissioned someone to do so, however, they dismissed any of those guesses only saying that their child was a genius.
And that's where the headache came in Tadao for all his brilliance in fuinjutsu is spreading himself thin no matter the genius they have limits. He had learned that the boy ever since he was young had a fascination with the world, always wanting to learn more grain more knowledge. He fears that maybe in the boy’s search for knowledge, he might anger people whom he cannot defend, and with his headstrong attitude and lack of fear, it's not a matter of if but when.
Similar to the other I did my research on my students and their backgrounds to weed out any spies or unloyal shinobi and the information I received was surprising.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
While at the tender age of four young Tadao had already begun his journey of shinobi. He learned the three basic jutsus taught in the academy and mastered them at a level where he could perform them with a single-hand seal when he turned five.
When I requested the scores of my students I was astonished to see him score full marks on the written exam only being matched by the child of the Zoko Clan and his physical score isn't anything to mock at either nearing the highest in his batch.
Even with all the maturity and understanding Tadao has shown he still lacks in some areas. He has shown to be able to think ahead in areas while in others… he doesn't.
An example is when he and Seiji cook up an idea to fix the cleanliness issue around the village. They had planned to place trash bins all around the village, an ingenious and very simple idea.
Our previous method of waste disposal was to bring them to a garbage heap where shinobis would separate them between biodegradable, recyclable, and trash this method worked greatly however people would occasionally just leave their trash on the ground leading to a buildup where shinobis who were mostly genins would be issued missions to dispose of them.
The new method would make the jobs of those shinobi much simpler as it would help keep them contained for disposal and if it was just that there would be no problem however the three kids and yes also Harumi somehow rope her in with the idea to add storage seals to the trash bins scattering storage containers around the village.
At first, nothing went wrong and the trash bins did their job holding the trash thrown inside and it helped when there was a sign explaining what it was used for. Something the three forgot to count was the effects of the natural elements and tinkering of others and how it would affect the seals.
Nice plan but terrible execution the evidence of that wrought the village in the fumes of a week's worth of garbage suddenly appearing. This caused our village to lose a lot of our tourism which eventually bounced back however it was still a blow as tourism is one of our major income streams.
I had experienced a severe tongue-lashing after the event and I made sure to provide increased sessions on safety management.
After long and grueling nights spent on paperwork I was able to sweep the matter under the metaphorical rug and actually have the village council implement this new innovation.
Taking the burden of implementing it out of my hands and maintaining said “trash seals” the tentative name of the new creation.
The creation and improvement of said seals was still my problem along with other fuinjutsu experts in the village.
Now months after the dreadful incident which should not be named. The same boy who caused me many sleepless nights hasn't arrived. Sighing he clapped his hands to get the attention of the other two in class.
“It looks like Tadao is late for class, we'll just have to start class without him.”
A snicker came from Seiji which Harumi hushed, ignoring the two’s antics he started his lesson.
Ten minutes into the lesson a freshly bathed Tadao came into the room gasping for air. “I am here,” he said.
“I see that. Take your seat and we might be able to continue our lesson without any disruptions.”
Nodding his head Tadai went to his chair before taking out his paper and brush.
“Hey wait, I miss,” whispered Tadao to Seiji.
“Not much we were just getting into explosive seals and the seals and numbers needed to make one,” responded Seiji.
Nodding his head, Tadao focused on the instructor and wrote down any interesting topics from the lesson. Taking his mind off the events that happened after he was dropped off by Tsutaka.
When the clock struck six it signaled the end of class. Packing his things up he placed them back on the storage seal on his bracers.
Leaving the room he caught up to Seiji before he left and they both talked about the lesson before they speed-walked/raced their way to the exit. Saying their goodbyes they separated leaving for their respective homes.
Mentally checking his schedule and finding that he has nothing planned up. He decided he should get some rest but before that I should at least perform my jutsu to exhaust all my chakra. Back in his yard Tadao performed the hand sign Water Release: Plant Watering Jutsu.
A stream of water came from his palm watering the plants in the yard. The sprayed water was in the spake of a circle with a hole in the middle like a donut. He continued watering plants for a few minutes till his chakra had depleted before going back home.
Greeting a water clone of his mom along with a shadow clone from dad and of course Tsutaka. Both my parents got a promotion two years ago.
Dad became a tokubetsu jonin meaning a chunin with a specialty that’s on the level of a jonin and for him that’s his suit on though his other aspects are still high chunin level.
Mom had gotten a promotion to elite chunin after undergoing a few missions with my father. It seems my mother wasn’t lacking in her training in those six years when she didn’t take any missions.
With my dad’s promotion to tokubetsu jonin he felt comfortable leaving a clone containing a tenth of his chakra behind with me.
The next day came and I was planning on going for another training sesh with Tsutaka. I heard the news. The second great Shinobi war had ended while the war didn’t experience any loss of Kages like the last war where a whole generation of Kage died. The casualties in the war are still immense.
With the second war done the village found it fit to start a celebration while we weren’t directly affected by war due to our fortunate location we still lost many capable shinobi due to skirmishes bleeding onto our borders.
So it looks like I only have a few years left before the third war begins and I know even with my spotty memories that we’re going to be heavily involved in that war. A few years ago when I had enough dexterity, I wrote all my knowledge on a scroll in the English language and buried it in my backyard along with a few things inside a time capsule. The time capsule was just an excuse to hide the scroll but it was an affected one; they didn’t expect the random scribbles to be anything of note.
A detail written on that note was about the third raikage facing off against ten thousand Iwa shinobi and with the land of hot water being part of the minor nation in between the land of lightning and stone we would be prime re estate for the two major villages to fight in if they don’t want Konoha involve in their struggles.
And while the village was having a celebration I couldn’t help but imagine the grimm future waiting for us. Shaking my head I distanced myself from those treacherous thoughts. I'll just need to train if I were to be able to protect my family. I wouldn't be ashamed to say that I care very much to my parents and it would pain me if I hear them get injured or worse die so I need to train more to protect them if we are to survive the next war.
With newfound determination and goal set I planned to go train with Tsutaka but before I could even do that I was roped into the festive village by mom and dad. Letting myself enjoy it I decided training could wait for tomorrow and enjoying the moment is more important.