Authors Note: Criticism is welcome! Compliments…are also welcome.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 2: Test
Carrying the book away like a squirrel with an acorn, I settled down near the fields with the deer again. This place is great. It's calming and soothing. I glance down at the small book. With tentative fingers and a throbbing heart, I open it. It's blank. Annoyed, I flip through the pages. The pages are a crisp blank white. Genjutsu? Fuuinjutsu? Interesting. My first test then. What was it that she said? Moving chakra from the first gate to your hands is basic.
Generally speaking, moving chakra from the hara to the hands are the first step. There is a cluster of tenketsu points near the hand which make it the easiest place to move chakra there. I went into my meditation pose. From the time it took me to get here, my chakra levels were only half full. So what did it mean then…was my chakra levels so low that it only took around 20 minutes to fill back up? Just moving chakra from my hara into my first tenketsu point took that much effort from me. How hard was it to actually use a jutsu? I always thought that the three fundamental jutsu that was required to complete the academy test were really easy. I'm not so sure now. Concentrating, I attempt to just move half of my chakra levels out. It was hard. To even think of splitting and dividing the chakra was difficult. I seriously doubt any normal 4 year old child can focus this hard to get out the chakra. Thankfully, I wasn't normal. I mean I had the extra consciousness to increase my mentality and focus. Plus, I was either a genius or not.
Moving half of my chakra out was significantly harder than moving all of it out. The mental strain to get it out was actually incredible. How do you move chakra from point to point? Do chakra react to will and intent? Is chakra alive? For all I know, there's this magical substance that normally enables only about 5 elements to be formed. So why those elements specifically? Why do people have some affinities for certain types? If super-fast healing, gravity control, resurrection was available, what was the limit? Is there a conceptual limit to the powers of chakra?
I guess I can say that I did not understand chakra. At all. The first person to be born with chakra was apparently the Sage of the Six Paths. He supposedly realised how to use said chakra through intense meditation as an adult while he travelled the world. Then gained so much chakra that he could subdue the Juubi and sealed it with his newly created fuuinjutsus. Then he created the moon. At least, that was the story that chibi Shikamaru was read. In the manga, that Sage was shown to be real. The Bijuu all but confirmed it. It was insane.
I couldn't understand that, for without starting help from my parents, how could I ever think of utilizing my chakra at such a young age? There's a reason why chakra was unlocked early on. The forced exposure to chakra stimulates the hara and gates into creating more chakra. If it's delayed too much, the coils would not be big enough or the gates themselves may not work properly. It's why a random civilian adult cannot just one day decide to meditate to open their chakra. Even with a lifetime of meditating, it was impossible.
Without my parents to unlock my chakra, there's no doubt I wouldn't be able to utilise my chakra. So the sage supposedly meditated and found his hara, and gained godlike powers. I guess it's why people think he's just a myth.
Turning my thoughts back to my problem of moving chakra, I found that it was still incredibly slow. At last, I managed to move my chakra outside my hara. Moving from the first gate to my hands, supposedly the easiest tenketsu point to move to, was said to be completely different from moving chakra from the hara to the first gate. In fact, Shikaku had explained it as comparing wood and an apple. Shikaku was annoying.
Either way, visualizing my hara takes work. If I had to compare mental strain, it would be like trying to get a thread through a needle. Especially when said thread was frayed and you have big giant clumsy fingers. Currently, with the added advantage of a higher than normal mental facility, it takes me ten seconds.
Ten seconds. A shinobi can do a lot in one second. Ten seconds was a battle. Ten seconds to access the hara was like asking a shinobi to wait as you take medicine, spout off words of wisdoms or explaining how you managed to trick the enemy with a genius method. Completely illogical.
As I rested under the beautiful clouds and blue sky, my chakra slowly begins refilling again. I was getting more and more chakra. That's for certain. My yang chakra was actually increasing at a faster rate than my yin chakra. It seems then that my hypothesis was correct. Using up chakra was slowly getting my coils to develop more. Using up till it nearly becomes empty develops it even more. As they say, demand creates supply. Good. I'm just not sure if this was an efficient way of increasing my chakra levels. Suffice to say that for the next hour I practiced several more times, regenerating a little faster, and gaining a bit more chakra in my hara each time. Moving the chakra from the first gate was a lost cause.
As it is now, I had refilled my yang chakra about 5 times, while my yin still had more than half left. I stopped. I was hungry. Not the hungry as in I'm feeling like a little junk food or chips. It was more like the hunger when you had not eaten for a whole day. It feels like I haven't eaten in ages! In addition to my hunger, I felt weak. Headaches and physically shaking, with my stomach growling, I reluctantly went back into my house, in fact…it was practically the first time I 'remembered' to come back to lunch on time.
Yoshino…my mother was laying down lunch. Food had never seen so tempting, and if she gave any notice to my growling stomach, she didn't give any indication of doing so. Except for that knowing smile on her face.
"Hmm. Never had you coming back on your own accord. Hungry? Of course you are," she smiles as she heaps up double my usual serving into my bowl.
I don't think I would describe my lunch, except to say that it was nice. And filling. Emptying your chakra levels seems to increase your appetite. So chakra was filled again after you finished eating. It seems then that my hara converts energy into chakra. For now, eating replenished my yin and yang chakra, but I hypothesis that after a certain amount of time, if I don't sleep, my yin chakra levels would not fill themselves up. I did not discuss anything with Yoshino, nothing about the book. It was a test of my independence. Of my newly found focus in learning. Shinobis seem to love tests.
Several observations about chakra became known to me then. Chakra is literally the lifeblood of shinobi. It is life. I sense that if I wanted to, I can take out more yang chakra from my hara, but that would most likely kill me. Chakra was linked to your physical and mental state. If you run out of yang, you become physically tired, and eating food or gaining energy is required to replenish yang. If you run out of yin, you become mentally tired, and meditation and sleeping is required to replenish it. Was this why Shikamaru was constantly sleeping? In that case then, as you run or do strenuous physical activity, the hara would subconsciously leak more yang chakra out. If I think too hard, hara would leak out more yin. It was interesting, to note the importance of chakra. I had always thought of it as independent of the mental and physical body, as just an extra attachment that allows for supernatural abilities. But it was literally your physical and mental state. In that case, the dangers of chakra exhaustion actually made sense, and why it would kill you.
During my lunch, I constantly try to visualize my hara quickly. Before, it took me about 10 seconds, and by the end of lunch, it took about 5 seconds. It's an improvement, but not much. To be able to do it automatically at any sign of danger is required for any shinobi.
For now though, moving practically all of my yang chakra with my yin corresponding to that same amount was the easiest step for me. Splitting up the default ratio was considerably harder. For the next hour or so, I attempt to move the chakra from my first gate past the coils into my hand. As said before, it was like watching paint dry. In fact, it refused to budge from the first gate. It's frustrating. Even my high reserves of yin were running low, and already, my mind was slower. As I lay down looking up at the clouds, I felt tiny.
By the time I woke up, my yin and yang reserves were back up, and it was around dinner time. The sun had set as I trudged back home. Shikaku was already there, helping out set out the table, lazily moving things with his shadow. Wait what. Shikaku seems to notice my dumbstruck gaze as he flaunts his shadow technique. Generally speaking, the most basic of shadow techniques were 2D. They moved on flat inanimate surfaces. The next step is to move it across a living body. The next step after that, were 3D shadows. How does that even work?
I finally found my voice as I hesitantly asked "What do shadows feel like?"
Shikaku looks up at me and shrugs his shoulders while taking back his shadows. Great. Now I had to master the technique to know. I seriously wonder if manga Shikamaru became a shinobi because it was more interesting. Either way, my parents were pretty tricky. Kind of like bribing a kid with candy except with cool techniques. In this sense then, all clan children want to become shinobi. Their whole life is groomed for it, stories are read depicting the ninja life. Killing to advance the village is expected. Killing is the norm. To suddenly become a pacifist was highly suspicious. I don't think many of the clan children will ever suddenly decide that they want to become a civilian. When their whole life they had been bought up on the whole ninja fever, and their parents expected it for them, it was practically impossible for clan children to want to become a civilian.
In this case then, Shikamaru was different. He only wanted to do things that interested him. His parents then actually have to interest him in the ninja arts. Already, as I examine my chibi self's memories, I recognize the early attempts to get him interested. They knew already back then, that if they pushed Shikamaru too hard, he would just resist every attempt. I think then, it was why Shikamaru could be so relaxed in the manga.
After dinner, is my usual game of shogi with Shikaku. I had only ever played chess in my old life, but shogi had aspects that were similar. They had the pawns, bishop, rook, horse. If the king died, then the game was over. The difference was in the promotion and the stealing of pieces. Once a piece got to a certain point of the board, it could get promoted. There it gained extra moves apart from the usual. If a piece gets taken away by the opponent, then the opponent can play it back down on the board. It was interesting. Compared with chess, it was more complicated. There were much more branches, actions of play.
Shikamaru was a genius. At 4 he was already proficient. He could read twenty moves ahead and as I play against Shikaku, I almost had the sense that I would win for the first time ever. Let it be said that Shikaku is annoying. I think that's the best way to describe Shikamaru's battle of wits with his father. Shikaku loves to taunt by letting the opponent think they have a chance, as he then completely demolishes them. It's what happened in this game. I think seeing Shikaku's smug smile get wiped off at the end of shogi match was what motivated Shikamaru to be so good at shogi. It was a challenge and it was interesting.
"Hmm. That was a close match," Shikaku's insufferable smile made it obvious what he actually thought, and seemingly as an afterthought, "so how's progress?"
"Still can't move from the gate to my hands," I sullenly replied.
"I'll give you tips if you do my share of the chores for the whole year."
I glared at him, "Tch. I'll figure it out myself."
"What do you think Yoshino would do if you don't finish the book by the end of the week?"
And there was the crux of the problem. Yoshino was scary. Somewhere and somehow, during the past few weeks, the family dynamics had changed. As Shikamaru had grown older and nearer the ritual, Yoshino had started including Shikamaru in the chores , and while she was still loving and caring, her sadistic side was coming out more and more, and Shikaku started being more sarcastic and annoying than ever before.
"I'll finish it."
"Here. You'll need the energy," said Shikaku as he handed me a basket of fruit. This is just weird. How are they manifesting these things out of thin air? As I took the fruit basket and turned to leave, I swear I could see a glint of pride in his eyes. Probably just my imagination.
After the game, it was free time again. For Shikamaru in the past, this would mean reading a few books. For me though, I had to figure out how to access the book. It's taunting me. As I examine my hara, my yin reserves had fallen. So it seems that shogi does utilise yin chakra. Well. No time like the present to start shifting chakra.
I blearily pushed the quilt back with my hands. No progress in that front. On the upside, my yang reserves had practically increased ten times what it was before, and my yin had doubled. Accessing my hara only takes about a second now, and moving chakra from my hara to the first gate takes about a minute. Breakfast was like any other breakfast. They say that the second day of any routine was the hardest, and this was no exception.
They lied when they say that it would be easier as the days went by. The third day was exactly like my second. I was constantly mentally and physically fatigued as I tried to move past my chakra block.
In fact, it would be on my 4th day, during my free time after lunch before I finally made progress.
MOVE! I willed the chakra. By now I was actually quite frustrated, angry and scared that I couldn't move it from the gate to my hands. Maybe I could take up on Shikaku's offer? NEVER! The chakra seems to finally surge out from the first gate into my hands.
Intent. Intent was the key. That or my increased chakra reserves. More questions and no answers. By now, I think I have given up ever understanding how chakra would work.
Ignoring my musing, I felt a sense of accomplishment. I did it. I actually did it. In retrospect, my parents wouldn't have given me the book if they didn't think I could do it, but still. A thin sheen of blue seems to cover my hand as I finally moved chakra from the gate to my hands. The blue tinge is barely perceptible, and already my reserves are drained as I move chakra to it. I actually did it. I quickly held up the book as it shifted under my hands. I guess I was right when it was a genjutsu.
Most of the information there was pretty basic. It did however, detail various new exercises such as the leaf concentration exercise to help with visualizing one's chakra and increase one's chakra control.
On the back of the book, there was a list of exercises like they said there would be.
Exercise 1: Move chakra from hara to hand.
Exercise 2: Put a leaf on top of one's palm and move it in circles.
Exercise 3: Circulate your chakra throughout your whole body till blue sheen appears around you.
Well. I finished the first one already. So that's always a plus. The second exercise seems like an extension of the first exercise. The third one is just gaining enough chakra reserves to move around the whole body.
Sigh. I guess it's more sleeping and eating for a while. Actually…that sounds great.
