Just Look Up
Even if years have passed, I will never get used to how peaceful Konoha is. Graduation was due in the Academy for ninja-to-be, and I could see a lot of youngsters along the street buzzing with excitement. During my time, I was the top of my class.. but pretty soon, I was over shadowed by a certain someone.
"Dad, forget it! I can't do it!"
"Don't quit, Toushiro! Try again."
I stopped in my tracks as I heard those words. I looked around to find the two people of the conversation. Soon, I spotted two people, seemingly father and son, in a field by a tree. I realized I knew the father – it was Hibiki Hitsuyaga, jounin and sensei to one of Naruto's kids. He was giving his son one-on-one training.
I looked at the boy, and felt like smiling. He was not only short, but very scrawny. It looked like he can go down with just a flick. But of course, I learned from certain someones never to underestimate – especially those who didn't seem like much. The boy was making a hand sign for the Shadow Clone jutsu, but it was very evident that he was struggling. His whole body was trembling from the effort. I could see quite a bit of chakra oozing out, responding to his will. But just when he was about to have an end product, he wavered.
"Dad, nothing's happening! Can't you see? I'll never pass in the academy! I'll never be shinobi, and I definitely can't be like you!" The kid stomped his foot, crossed his arms and looked away; typical childish tantrum. His father, who had proven himself to me and the rest of the villages as an exceptional shinobi, sighed. He kneeled to get down to his son's level, and he placed his hand on his son's mop of messy hair.
"But son, if you quit that's when you really achieve nothing! You have to-"
"Try again? Hmph! I wish you'd stop saying that because nothing could seems to come from it!"
I shook my head, and driven by obligation, I walk up to the two. "Good day to you two!" I greeted. Hibiki rose from his position and bowed slightly. "Good day to you, too, Sasuke." He used to call me a bunch of honorifics, like sama and senpai, but I didn't feel like I deserved it. Looks like I've gotten over the superiority complex Kakashi said I used to have. But it looks like Hibiki wasn't comfortable with just Sasuke.
"What brings you here, sir – Sasuke, I mean," Hibiki asked.
"Well, I couldn't help but overhear your little conversation with your son, so I came to check things out. So this is little Toushiro, eh?" I look down at the boy and ruffled his hair. He seemed to be irritated by it. "And he's about to become a genin."
The young boy seemed to be unnerved by my last statement. He looked down. "No, I'm not," he muttered. "I'm sure of it."
"And what makes you so sure?" I raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"Because I can't do a lot of ninjutsu! I'm behind all of my classmates! And if they make me do the Shadow Clone jutsu during the finals, my chances of passing are zero."
"Oh, is that it?" I smile, crossing my arms. "It sounds to me like a certain someone I know back from my Academy days."
The two seemed a little intrigued. I love telling stories about that knucklehead. "I had a classmate back then, who was always getting himself into trouble. He was the lowest in rank in the class, and I was on the top. He was a first-class loser. So I even called him that. He tried took the final exams several times.
"He kept failing. His weakest jutsu was the Shadow Clone jutsu. He was the only one in class who couldn't produce even a single one. And unfortunate for him, it was that jutsu that would always come up on the final exams. But you know what? He never gave up. He tried and tried, stepping on failure and using it as a ladder to pull himself up."
The boy and his father was silent for a while. I kneeled down like what HIbiki did, and touched Toushiro's head. "You wanna know where he is now?"
"Some place hiding because of his total failure?" Toushiro muttered. I shook my head.
I looked up and directed my eyes towards a mountain wherein six the faces overlooking the entirety of Konoha were carved. To us villagers, they weren't just ordinary faces. They were faces of the six strongest shinobi – and kunoichi, of this village. The Hokages. I point a finger up at the last face. The one that looked almost exactly like the fourth face, only with lined cheeks and a slight grin.
"There he is. Not exactly hiding, and not exactly failed," I said with a pride oozing out of every word, topped off with a smirk.
"So you see what your father was talking about?"
Toushiro had his eyes glued to the face of the Sixth Hokage. His eyes were sparkling, obviously in awe. He stayed that way for quite some time.
"The Sixth Hokage.. He used to be.."
I stood up and face Hibiki. He gave me a smile.
"Then I won't give up, too! I'll try my very best!" He made the hand sign for the Sixth Hokage's favourite jutsu. "SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!"
Poof!
And right there, in front of us was Toushiro.. and Toushiro. Except the next one was about two and a half feet tall. "Woops!" the boy chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Well, it's better than nothing."
"Atta boy, Toushiro!"
And then, we all laughed.
About a year later, I was walking back home from the Hokage's office, and everything seemed to be just like the day of my encounter from Toushiro. Again, I heard the father and son talking by the same place. But there was something new with the kid. Well, he was a little taller. But besides that..
"A chunin. Can you believe it? I'm a chunin!" Toushiro pointed proudly at his green vest and beamed.
I whistled. "Wow, and in just such a short span of time!"
"Yeah, and it's all thanks to what you told me. Every time I feel like giving up," Toushiro said enthusiastically, "I just look up." I followed his gaze towards the mountain-side face of the Sixth Hokage.
Looks like the Sixth is a better Hokage than I though. This made me smile return the smile the usuratonkachi was giving me from up that mountain.
The End
Thanks for reading! Please review. OH, AND POP QUIZ: WHAT IS THE KID'S FULL NAME? XD oh, and PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO: watch?v=1_dKuJnAWjI . I KNOW IT SUCKS, BUT I was just getting used to this new Movie Maker. Loool.
Love the lamely named,
Legendaryhuntress
Stand, Bow, Bye!