Chapter 3
"When you holding back the arrow, you don't want your elbow too high. Also, you don't want to grip the bow too tight. You need to take a deep breath in, and release the arrow as you breath out. You're very tense, so you need to relax."
I was in a after school weapons lesson with my mother and brother. We were in the training field and todays lesson was on bow and arrows. My mother was instructing my brother, who was about to shoot his first arrow. His target was closer than mine, his being a couple yards away and mine not even in view. This training worked with both my weapons and byakugan. I had it activated it to look for my multiple targets, and as I took a breath in I released by bow while the carbondioxside released from my mouth. I let another four arrows go right after, hitting all my targets right at the bullseye. I smiled and looked over at my brother with a pout on his face. I then looked over at the target to see that he hit the board, but not the bullseye.
"Wow, you sit got the target! I'm so proud." Both my mother and I praised my adorable brother, but his face didn't change and he crossed his arms over his chest.
"I want to hit in the center like nii-chan!" He stomped his foot and my mother and I tried suppressing our laughter. I walked over to my brother and took his bow and arrow. I wrapped myself around his back and positioned him to shoot again. I kept my hand on top of his as I helped him steady the bow.
"What helps me is to lift my head up a little bit. You must also take a second to feel the wind and how powerful it's blowing. You need to be calm and just feel." I let him take over and moved my hands to his shoulders. After a few seconds he let go of the bow and it hit right in the center. We all cheered at my brother's bullseye.
"I did it!" He and we all celebrated until we moved on to our training. This time it was just me and mom, my brother had to sit this one out. I had some shuriken between my fingers as my mom did the same. We sparred until I was on my back, soaked in my sweat. I looked over at my mother who wasn't even breathing heavily, and I just thought about wanting to be on her level.
"Alright my dumplings, let's go home. I've got to get dinner ready before your papa comes home." I felt my stomach growl in agreement and I knew I wasn't the only hungry one when my brother's growled as well. We both let out a laugh as we started to make our way home. We all laughed and joked about random things while we traveled back to the Hyuga compound.
"Hinata tells me Boruto's going back to school tomorrow." My mother mentions. At the name of my cousin I let out a sigh. I knew that things at the academy were going to get crazy after today.
"Boruto nii-chan is strong! I bet he's gonna kick everyone's butt." My brother let out. I laughed at his remark, but I was curious on who he thought was stronger.
"Do you think he's gonna kick your nii-chan's butt?" I asked.
"NO WAY! Nii-chan is the strongest! You can see him coming a mile away!" Mother laughs at his response and I rubbed the top of his head with a proud smile on my face.
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Night turned to day and I was already making my way to the academy. Today I walked alone to school, and I enjoyed the nice change to be able to think to myself. I also remembered that my cousin was joining us and I could only groan.
Soon I had made it to the school and walked to the classroom. There were only a few familiar faces already sitting, and I found my place beside Metal.
"Goodmorning." I said as I took my seat.
"Goodmorning Nana! Isn't it such a beautiful day outside?" I hummed in agreement to my friend's positive words. I looked around the room and spotted Chocho, Sarada, and Surmie sitting together. I let out a small wave and they returned it. I turned to Metal and Chatted with him about my weapons training from last night. In return the boy suggested him and his father joining us, and I happily agreed.
"Hey, guys!" We both stopped chatting and faced towards the entrance of the classroom. There stood my cousin, who walked into the room like he owned the place.
"I'm Boruto Uzumaki! Nice to meet you all!" Boruto spoke. I could help but notice Dinki and Shikadai behind him. The later came up behind Boruto telling him to restrain himself. I kept my eyes on the lazy ninja as he made his way to sit down. Then next second our eyes met, and he let out a small smile. It was brief, but I caught it. It also didn't go unnoticed by my friend sitting beside me. He nudged me slightly and I hit him back in return.
"You and Nara need to start dating soon." Metal whispered to me. I only groaned and laid my head down on the desk. Not realizing I'm copying my cousin two rows beside me. Metal chuckled and went on about how he was 'kidding', but I knew he wasn't.
"We're all too young to date. Like damn, I'm only 11!" I told him, but it was all muffled with my face in the crook of my elbow.
I drowned Metal out as I could suddenly hear some people in the back of the classroom start talking about my cousin. Talking about what he did a couple weeks ago. I looked over at my cousin to see him ignoring the rude remarks and smiled at him being the bigger person. He then started bothering Shikadai with a big smile on his face. I let out a small laugh at Shikadai's annoyed face.
"Paapa tells me that Boruto is a lot like his dad." Metal says.
"Apparently all of us are like our parents. Some more then others." I added, smirking at my friend who resembled his father to a T.
"Hey, this is top of the line ninja gear!" He argued. I let out a laugh as I mentioned the other things they had in common. As we joked I noticed someone making his way down from the corner of my eye.
"Mmmm, riding on the Hokage's coattails, huh?" I looked up at the sadistic boy as he made his way down the stairs. I could see class rep freaking out, but kept myself focused on the Yamanaka boy. Said boy stopped at the bottom and looked up in mild shock. He then smiled as he faced our direction.
"Oops, did I just say that out loud?"
He turned to my cousin and friends and I could hear Shikadai scold the sadistic ninja. He apologized, but went out of the way to tell him that that's how everyone feels. I stood up, about to defend my cousin, but was held back by Metal.
"If anyone else caused a runaway train, it would be normal if they were thrown in jail." Before I could say anything Dinki stood to defend Boruto, but said boy placed his hands on the other to stop him. I saw him shake his head towards Dinki and I decided to let my cousin fight his battles and sat back down. Shikadai was the one who ended up defending my cousin. Saying on how they know that not how it happened.
"I guess. Hey, Boruto how long has it been?" The subject was dropped instantly as they started conversing like old friends. All of our parents are good friend, so we all knew each other. It's funny how Shikadai mentions it right after I think it. They continue to converse as I turn my attention away, placing my head on my hand in a bored manner.
"Isn't that right Nana?" At the mention of my name I turn to see Inojin looking in my direction. Boruto and the others look over as well.
"What?" I glared at the boy. I felt Metal tense next to me as Inojin made his way over. The blonde boy had a smile on his face as he stared me down.
"I'm not trying to cause trouble right?" I raised my eyebrow at the boy and let a smirk grace my face. I placed my arm down and lifted my head up to the boy.
"I think you're smart enough to answer that question on your own Inojin." I smiled back. I didn't back down as we both stared at each other. Neither of us backing down, but we were interrupted by my cousin.
"How our parents are doesn't matter." Boruto made his way over to us and brought his hand out for Inojin to shake.
"Anyway, let's be friends!" Inojin smacks his hand away, but the smile on his face doesn't leave.
"Well, I don't even consider you worth my trust. I can trust your cousin more than you." Inojin looks at me with a smile and I just stare back at him. The room was getting tense, but luckily the class rep interrupted by telling us to get along. Chocho joked about her role and her words going together well making the girl panic.
The doors of the classroom were suddenly opened and Shino Sensei came through. We all stood when our class rep said to. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Inojin make his way back to his seat. We locked eyes for a brief moment until he was out of eye sight.
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We had moved outside for Shino Sensei to finish calculating everyone's basic strengths and weaknesses. He told us that using that data, he was going to plan practices to work between everyone. We all responded, and I sat on the ground. Metal was standing next to me. He still radiated energy, and I was hoping he wouldn't want to go off.
"Nana!" I heard my name being called. I turned and smirked seeing my cousin come in my direction. I lifted my hand up for Metal to assist me back on my feet. I crossed my arms over my chest seeing my cousin's annoyed face.
"How are you ahead of me?!" I let out a laugh to my younger cousin of a few weeks.
"It's obvious. Because I'm better than you little cousin." I mocked him. I could see the anger pool out of him and he then pointed a finger at me.
"You're only older by a few weeks!" He yelled. I laughed, and I could hear Metal do the same. I saw Shikadai to Boruto's left trying not to laugh either.
"And who's this Iwabe, the other one who beat me." I stopped laughing at the mention of the guy on the number one spot. I raised my eyebrows to my idiot cousin, but then realized he hasn't been here since the opening ceremony. Dinki went into explaining how he wasn't here today, and how the stupid boy doesn't want to hang around amateurs like us. I let out a scoff, because that guy was only above me by a small margin.
Before we could talk further the bell rang for lunch and we all decided to eat together. The five of us entered the classroom, and I heard my cousin explain how hungry he was. I was walking next to Shikadai thanks to Metal as we made our way in. I glared at my friend, but didn't for long as Shikadai turned his attention to me. He let out another smile, and I returned it. We didn't get to talk much today so I was going to try starting a conversation during lunch.
We spotted other classmates standing around and Boruto greeted them. He asked them if they were going for lunch and if we could join. Immediately they apologized saying they were going to the rooftop. I could see their anxious expressions as they hurried out of the way.
"What's with them?...Whatever…. Let's eat—" Before he could finish a voice told us to go somewhere else. I could sense the person was in the back corner of the room. The other's look around as I looked strait towards where the person laid. I saw Iwabe sit up from the bench I knew he was on and I glared at the male as he continued to tell us that we were bothering him and that he was using the room.
"Who is he?" Boruto asked.
"Iwabe." I responded.
"The Repeater Iwabe." Shikadai corrected me. I gave him a glance with my eyebrow raised and he put his hands up in surrender immediately. I turned back to Iwabe as Shikadai continued to explain how he failed the graduation exams twice. I kinda felt sorry for the boy, but at this point he should realize that being a ninja wasn't just about brute strength. You had to be smart too.
"Oh, so you're our senior. Nice to meet you!" Boruto was shut down instantly from the older boy.
"Don't get all friendly with me you damned Hokage's son." Iwabe stated. I got angry at that remark, because not only was he being mean to my cousin, but he got at my uncle too.
"That doesn't mean shit Iwabe." I spoke. Said boy's attention was turned to me. He smirked down at me crossing his arms over his chest like he was a king.
"I wasn't talking to you Hyuga." The older spoke.
"It doesn't matter whose son I am." After that comment Iwabe smacked his hand on the desk and pushed his way to land in front of us. He grabbed my cousin by the collar of his shirt, and before I could intervene I was pulled back by Metal and Shikadai. Only the former let go when I calmed down.
"Well I don't like the idea of having a guy like you hanging around all the time." As he continued to talk I noticed our classmate standing at the entrances of the classroom. Then, when Boruto was tossed across the room Metal had to come back to help Shikadai hold me back.
"You asshole." I yelled at Iwabe, but the boy payed no attention to me. He mocked Boruto on how he was not worth his time. Dinki then ran over to Boruto to make sure he was alright. Shikdai left my side about to go at Iwabe, but said boy put his stick out, making Shikadai pause.
"If you have a problem, come at me." Iwabe spoke. I was about to break free from Metal to beat the boy to a pulp, but with Metal's plea Shikadai was back at my side taking a hold of my arm. I immediately started to calm down in the boy's hold, and this didn't go unnoticed by a couple classmates. I was brought out of my thoughts when Iwabe brought his staff to the ground, making a clang against the floor.
"Strength is everything for a ninja. What's the use of studying obediently like you guys? Even the present Hokage was the strongest in all of history. As long as you're strong, a ninja can get away with anything." I groaned at his stupidity as I heard classmates around us start murmuring what I was thinking.
Dinki started to talk, but my mind was somewhere else. This idiot just needs to understand how stupid he was. I was brought out of my thoughts when Iwabe yelled at Boruto to shut up. Iwabe continued about how weak people were inferior, and went on about my uncle during the war ten years ago. He went on about how everyone's gotten soft since then. His last line was a final strike about my cousin riding on his father's coattail, and both Metal and Shikadai used even more strength to keep me back. I started yelling at the boy until Dinki spoke up.
"Boruto's not like that at all!" DInki yelled at Iwabe. I paused watching the small boy stride over to Iwabe as he told him how Boruto was the reason he wanted to come to the academy. Iwabe immediately grabbed Dinki by his collar. The former told Dinki that he could only speak to him like that after he beats him.
"Oh, I'll tell him alright." I had to be pushed back again, and this time Chocho even swooped in to help the two boys. Before I could go at him Boruto flew up and separated the two with a kick.
"So, your idea of strength is to bully people into doing what you want?" Boruto then stood up from his crouched position. Shikadai yelled out his name, but my cousin told him that it was fine. My cousin continued to say he decided not to fight here, but that he would be more than willing to take Iwabe on.
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We stood in the bleachers of the training arena. Shikadai stood to my left and Metal to my right. I gripped onto the balcony as I stared at my cousin and Iwabe as the faced each other on the makeshift battlefield.
"Watch closely, you guys! This is a ninjutsu match according to the Academy rules! Don't worry, I won't use this. Because if I did, you'd die." I was grateful for that, because even though the boy is an idiot, he knows his way around his weapon. With my mother being an expert in the area, and her having taught me about weapons at a young age, I knew what the metal rod could do.
"This is all my fault…" Dinki said.
"It's not." I said to him.
"He brought it on himself for taking up this challenge." Shikadai spoke what we both were thinking. "He'll end up getting suspended again" He continued as he scratched the back of his neck.
"You'll think that all he'll get? He'll probably get expelled." Inojin came to the spot between Shikadai and Dinki. I didn't pay attention to him as he dissed my cousin and turned my attention to the match in front of me.
The match started right away when Iwabe threw two hands full of shuriken at Boruto. Said boy dodged and ran towards the older throwing a few punches towards Iwabe's face. I watched on as they continued to fight. I kept my eyes on the two as they moved around the arena.
"I need to teach him how to throw better." I watched Boruto miss with his own shuriken, as I made a disgusted face. I heard Shikadai and Metal chuckle at my comment.
"You know his shuriken skills are the last thing he thinks about. He mainly uses it as a distraction." Shikadai commented. I hummed, but even if it was just a distraction he could have done it better. We watched them continue, but when Iwabe threw Boruto against a pillar I widened my eyes. My cousin was down and I clenched the bars in front of me so tight I felt my palms start to hurt. I saw my cousin slowly start to get up as he started panting heavily. When he got up he smiled and joked on how Iwabe only made his clothes dirty.
I let out a sigh as I leaned back and let go of the bar. I looked down at my bright red hands. My mind finally processed how hard I was holding those bars and I started blowing on the. A hand quickly grabbed my arm and I looked up to see Shikadai staring down at my hand in concern. My mind went blank as he started to blow on my palm. His breath tickled and when I looked at his face his eyes were closed and he looked very calm. I knew my face had turned ten shades of red.
When Shikadai finally opened his eyes, he stopped blowing and looked down at my embarrassed face. I saw his face turn a few shades of red as his green eyes widen. I heard Inojin let out a chuckle, and after that we both separated from each other. Shikadai let out a quick apology, in which I responded that it was ok. I also let out a small thank you.
Our attention moved back to the fight when Iwabe yelled that it was over. I saw him in the air about to strike my cousin, but he ended up hitting a shadow clone instead. Boruto came behind a distracted Iwabe and kicked him in the head, making him fly across the field. It turned out to be a substitute, and I heard Shikadai speak what I thought.
I continued watching the battle as the two were pretty even. They talked about each other's moves for a few seconds, and I heard Dinki being confused by the word chakra. He typed away on his computer looking up the word. He spoke the computer definition and Shikadai continued to tell him more about it.
The battle continued as Boruto and three shadow clones charged at Iwabe. The latter took them out with ease, but Boruto wasn't letting up. He made three more before Iwabe let out a smoke bomb. I immediately activated my byakugan. I heard the boys talk about Iwabe's fighting skills as I searched for the boy. I saw Boruto and his clones still on the ground, and heard Shikadai let out a 'troublesome'.
As the fog lifted up I cursed as Boruto fell for the trick. The others turned to me seeing that I was using my family power to see the battle through the fog. I knew I freaked Dinki out, but since the others knew about it they weren't fazed.
"What do you see?" Shikadai asked. Before I could reply we could hear Boruto's grunts as his clones started getting beatup. I heard Inojin ask why he was so determined.
"Because that's just who he is. He won't give up, and that's one thing I always admire him from." I said to him while keeping my eyes on the battle. As the dust went away I deactivated my eyes. Iwabe asked my cousin if he was done, but knowing Boruto, he wasn't anywhere near done. My cousin got off the ground as the two started chatting.
Iwabe went on about how the Hokage and the rest of them got in to power because of their strength. He was angry from them changing things to a calmer life. He stated that he would have graduated a long time ago if things were like it was back then. My cousin then said the one thing that was obvious to all of us,
"Could you… possibly just be really bad at studying?" Boruto looked at him in confusion. This angered Iwabe as he continued to yell at my cousin. I was proud to watch Boruto tell Iwabe how it truly is to be a ninja, and not just relying on brute strength. He also gave his never give up speech. The two continued fighting as Boruto went on. I smiled down at my strong cousin as he kept fighting. I jumped when Boruto was struck by a shuriken and just when I thought he might have lost I realized it was just a shadow clone. I smiled as Boruto finally got some hits in and told him he was not riding on the Hokage's coattail. There were cheers from the crowd and following suit I grabbed on to Shikadai and jumped up and down.
"Did you see how cool my cousin looked?!" I laughed and jumped, but then I realized who I was hanging on to. I instantly stilled as I looked up to Shikadai who wasn't even fazed. He had held on to me too and was watching my cousin in awe. I looked over and Metal who gave me a thumb up. I ignored him by looking away, staring back to the battlefield. I saw Iwabe struggle to get up as Boruto continued talking to him.
After the speech I could see the anger in Iwabe's face, and not even a second later he yelled out. We all watched as he jumped up and flew over to where his metal rod was in the ground. My eyes widened as he gripped the weapon and pulled it out of the ground. As it came up rod had turned into a giant hammer, the ground became the head of the weapon by attaching itself to rod. Iwabe struck the ground, and a wave knocked down one of the giant pillars in one strike. I let go of Shikadai and leaned over the edge, going back to gripping the bars of the railing.
"He knows Earth style too?!" I heard Shikadai say as he joined my gripping the balcony. I cursed at myself for not saying anything earlier. I knew it wasn't just a stick, but I wasn't one-hundred percent sure if he could use it for what it was really ment for.
"I knew I had seen that weapon before, but I didn't want to believe that he could use it for what it's made for." I spoke.
"What do you mean?" Dinki said.
"It's not a simple stick. I've seen my mother use something similar, so I kinda had an inkling for what it was. With knowing earth style, he can turn it into any sort of weapon he wants. From the hammer he's currently using to a spear. It's an endless possibility" I explained. I heard Shikadai curse next to me and even Metal let out a few bad words.
Iwabe yelled a few more things in anger. When he lifted his hammer to the sky I was about to jump over the railing, but I stopped when the sound of a bird was heard. I looked up to see a red and yellow object fly down towards Iwabe. The thing grabbed Iwab's weapon and when it moved towards our direction I could see it was a bird that looked like a drawing. My mind went to one individual as Shikadai said what I was thinking yet again.
"Super Beast Scroll….. Inojin." We turned towards said boy and say the bird explode into ink and the weapon dropped down in front of the Yamanaka.
"What's the big idea?!" Iwabe yelled.
"What? Didn't you say you weren't going to use weapons?" Inojin said with a bright smile. His face immediately turned to a serious one, and my eyes widened at the rare sight.
"How can you call it a fair fight after breaking the rules?" Inojin finished. I turned back to Iwabe as he looked at Inojin. He mumbled a few words I couldn't quite hear, and before I knew it our classmates started cheering. I didn't even realize I was about to fall off the balcony when I had intended to break up the fight until Shikadai helped me off the bars. I blushed as his hands grabbed at my hips as he got me off the the balcony.
"Troublesome girl." I heard him mumble. I got a veiw at his pink face, and I couldn't help but smile and say thanks. I also knew my cheeks were also tinted the rosie color. Our moment was ruined by Sensei Shino running in yelling.
"Whats going on?" Said teacher yelled. The name of my cousin also came out of his mouth. Said boy turned around to our teacher and gave him a thumb up. I chuckled at the boy as Sensei Shino sighed.
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The next day came around quickly as it was lunch time yet again. I sat with Metal and before I knew it people were bombarding my cousin to eat with them. I smiled towards the interaction as my little cousin finally was getting the respect he deserved.
I couldn't help but notice the few boys in the back who still talked bad about my cousin. I ignored them, but I could hear Inojin's words clearly.
"You guys are sad. He wasn't fighting for himself. He did it for his classmate. When Kaminarimon was being pushed around, did any of you go to his rescue? I'm not quoting Boruto but that's….totally uncool." I could feel his smile without having to look around.
Not even a second later Iwabe came into the room. I heard a student say his name, and then footsteps were heard making their way down the bottom of the classroom. He and Boruto greeted each other as Iwabe sat behind my cousin. At this point I had turned my head to actually watch the interaction. I smiled realizing Iwabe finally understood what Boruto was trying to explain yesterday.
Everyone sat down for class, and after a few minute Shino Sensei entered the classroom. Sumrie told us to stand, and we all did. When she instructed us to bow, we bowed. While everything was going on I couldn't help but smile at how much my cousin has changed.
