“Pulvis et umbra sumus. (We are but dust and shadow.)”

― Horace

After the first week of cloud watching, it got old. So old, it was crumbling to dust. I tried to be patient but, after an entire week of lying on the grass, it really was time to move on. So, on the 8th day of cloud watching, we followed the same routine. The two of us had breakfast, Mom was still away on assignment,

I demanded to-san ‘How is this helping me become a Nara?’

‘Survivin ain’t livin’ He replied, which seemed sensible enough to me, ‘Ya have to learn to relax before ya learn to run.’ A little less sensible. He laid back down on the grass, seemingly satisfied with himself.

Seeing that I wasn’t getting anywhere, I laid back down on the grass and went back to looking at the clouds. After a few more days passed by, it seemed that even to-san got bored of lying in the grass not doing anything, either that or he couldn’t stand my tossing and turning in the grass next to him.

So, the next day I woke up, dreading another day of cloud gazing, I climbed up the counter in the kitchen and made myself a bowl of bland cereal. Not willing to risk the precarious climb back down to the floor and the table, I sat down on top of the counter and started contemplating ways to trick to-san into doing ninja training that I so obviously needed, rather than doing nothing but lie around all day. It was then to my surprise that I saw to-san coming into the kitchen, not dressed in his usual pyjamas, but rather in something that resembled more sensible, almost shinobi-like, attire looking a lot perkier than he usually did (which was not difficult)

“Why ain’t ya dressed?” he declared, seemingly confused at why I wasn’t dressed like he was, ready to take on the world.

“Why should I be?” I replied, curious as to what had prompted this change, although I could probably guess, seeing as how yesterday, he had given me some rather strange glances as I shuffled about or huffed for the 100th time. I really did try, but there was only so much lying around a highly energetic two and three-quarter year old can take before wanting to run around and start yelling to the sky, even if they have the mind of an adult.

“Cos we’re goin to the hospital today.” Replied my as ever informative to-san, seemingly assuming that such information was as obvious as the colour of grass. Then, without waiting, he strolled out of the door, without waiting for me to get dressed to join him. I couldn’t believe it. My ever-lazy to-san was taking me outside of the house with him and it wasn’t for napping on the grass!

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Due to this, I had to stop eating the bland cereal, jump down off the counter, run out of the dining area, past to-san, past the courtyard and porch which were opposite each other on either side of the main corridor, take a right at the main door, past the bathroom and into my bedroom. From there, I threw on a random top from my drawer, pulled a pair of trousers over my pyjama bottoms and ran back out the main door to to-san who was walking down the path towards the rest of the compound.

As we walked through the village on the way to the hospital, I was mired in thought. What purpose could there be to bringing me along with him to the hospital? Was it because he just didn’t trust me at home? It couldn’t be after all, despite my physical appearance, I was mature for my age, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t done with his lesson on being a Nara. After all, he had spent a week trying to get me to pick up on some hints on ‘How to be a Nara’. In the end, I decided to just go with the flow and see where it took me.

As we were going down the main path leading out of the compound, we came across my uncle walking together with an Akimichi towards the woods. When they passed us, they stopped for a few words with to-san.

“Hey Kotaro” my uncle called, looking genuinely interested in whatever he was doing, a rare expression for a Nara. “Do you know where the Enoki are in the forest?” Enoki were a type of mushroom that was used to make several dishes that were used in the Akimichi restaurant, which my uncle had become a chef for after his chakra pathways were destroyed in a skirmish with a rogue shinobi 10 years ago, the same skirmish in to-san and several others were injured in.

“I think theyr by south side, by t’rabbit lake” to-san replied after pondering the subject for a couple of seconds.

“Alright, thanks Ko” my uncle cheerfully answered, turning to his large friend beside him and together, they continued down the path to the south side of the forest.

The subject and of to-san and his brother was a curious one, even for a clan as intelligent as our own, in that, despite being identical twins, to-san was one of the more laid-back members of the clan, whilst my uncle, Kentaro, was a complete anomaly within the clan being constantly cheerful and energetic as a five-year old. Despite their differences though, both to-san and uncle were regarded as some of the most intelligent members of the clan and were regarded as prodigies until their respective injuries, prematurely ending their shinobi careers.

As to-san and I continued down the path leading out of the compound, at the gate, we passed by a group of old men playing shogi by the side of the main road going into the village. When I asked to-san where the guards were instead of these old men, he informed me that all of those old men were retired Jonin who had survived for over forty years as shinobi and, upon reaching the age of 60, were no longer required by the village and so, volunteered to guard the compound. Even if they were retired, all of them could defeat a newly minted Jonin thirty years their junior by virtue of their decades of experience as shinobi.