Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Chapter 4: Failures
All 3 of you have failed
Those words resounded into the Metal's head. He had failed. He had shamed his father, his master. When his mother would learn of his failure, she would undoubtedly be disappointed. Metal was in denial. No that can't be. I worked so hard. I trained so hard. What did I miss? Why? He was continuously thinking about what was happening. Was that it? Did his time as a genin lasted only a few hours? Will he really have to return to the Academy for a whole year of makeup classes?
The other two children were not looking any better as the 4 of them slowly walked back to the clearing.
The jonin hadn't said anything since the announcement. The three genin had tried to argue but she simply ignored them and kept walking. They realised they would not get any answer at that moment and merely followed her.
When they reached the clearing, the jonin sat down on the trunk once again when they first came, but said nothing. She merely looked at them with that same cold expression. It scared them.
"So?" the woman said to the trio. They looked at her, confused.
"Ask your questions, one at a time."
The kids looked at each other but hesitated, they did not know how to handle this situation. After the silent treatment Hanabi-sensei, -san, had inflicted upon them, they had the time to calm down and realise their position. Any previous argument they could come up with had already an answer: they had not succeeded in getting the scroll.
"There…" Hinabachi started. She clenched her eyes and said rapidly "there was no feasible way we could have acquired the scroll, or even retained it if we had managed to. You are too strong. What chance did we had, us, ninjas who just became genin, to defeat a jonin?"
"I'm sorry, did you just say 'defeat'?" Hanabi interrupted her "I don't remember that the test was to 'defeat' me"
"It's the same thing" Tsubasa said while looking away "How else could we have obtained the scroll? I tried to sneak around and get it, but it did not work. If direct confrontation was not the going to work, how else could we have done it?"
Metal nodded, for the first time approving of what Tsubasa has just said.
Hanabi's expression turned from serious to angry. They recoiled from her. "You brats are nothing but hypocrites. If you could not figure something like this out, then none of you are suited to be ninjas."
They looked at her, horrified by her words. She continued "Has none of you understood why, despite the differences, despite being strangers, despite the fact that some of you do not even get along, why you were put in teams?" They began to think.
"What chance did WE had? How could WE have obtained the scroll? How should WE have done it? You guys don't know the definition of 'we'. In all those questions, it would have been more accurate to say 'I'" she chastised them. They started to get the picture.
"But you said… you said that you would take only one student. That the ones who did not obtain the scroll will fail" Metal said desperately.
"I suggest you try to remember my exact words. I never said I would take any one of you as my disciple. I merely stated the benefits of becoming my only student, not that I would grant that privilege to anyone. I also said that the one who would be holding the scroll would pass, did I ever said that only 1 of you could have the scroll in his or her hand? Or that only 1 of you could pass?"
"But you implied …" Hinabachi started.
"Underneath the underneath." Hanabi interrupted her again. "Something that every ninja must keep in mind. Do you believe that you will be given all the information from any mission? That your enemies will tell you their weaknesses? That there are obvious signs that indicate the location of every hidden targets? Baka!"
"I purposefully told you this information to sow confusion, distraction and dissemination between you. Something many opponents do to give them the advantage against enemy groups. If it was a real mission, you would all be dead. The key to overcome this problem: …"
She looked at each one of them so that they remember this lesson for the rest of their lives.
"Teamwork"
The genin looked away shamefully. She then hold the scroll horizontally with both hands, each one of them on the circular borders of the cylindrical object, and asked them "Tell me, is there enough space between my hands for another one to hold this right now?"
They looked at said object, but said nothing. If all three of them had hold the scroll that way, they would have probably passed. But none had thought to do so.
"Not only were you guys too concerned about how this test would benefit you alone but you even went as far as to attack each other" Hanabi said after dropping the scroll in front of them. "It does not matter if the reason for you to become a ninja is important, you cannot accomplish something so difficult alone. You need the help and support of others, be it directly or indirectly, to become someone of such high calibre.
"Only someone who can work with others will be acknowledged by the village. Only someone who understand that there are things they cannot do, without the help of others, will be accepted by the people. The ones who cannot trust their own comrades for whatever reason will never be trusted to protect or save anyone. No one will ever want their help. Therefore they have no future as a shinobi"
"Remember that when you return to the Academy" she said finally before turning around in the direction of the village.
"PLEASE WAIT" Metal yelled back. The woman turned around until she faced him. He fell on his knees, and bowed until his head touched the ground.
"Please" he said with a deep respectful tone "give us another chance."
All 3 people were staring at him. Hanabi waited.
"I know we have failed the test, and we have disappointed you, who were willing to teach us to become better. But please give us another chance. Let us prove to you that we can do it, that we can become a team that you would proudly acknowledge."
Hinabachi looked at the boy with the bowl cut. She felt bad, here was another person who was helping her, without her knowing how to repay him. Since she had no idea what to do, she simply did whatever she could think of in this situation. She went to the left where Metal was and bowed on the ground, reflecting his position.
"Logically, there should be no reason for you to give us another chance. But I want you to know that we are willing to do anything you ask us to do so that we may continue being genin" she pleaded to the jonin who showed no reaction.
"You could simply try again next year" she said monotonously.
"Next year might be too late, there is something I must achieve no matter what" Tsubasa intercepted as he quickly went to Hinabachi's side and bowed the same way as the two. "Since our reasons do not matter, I can only beg you to forgive our failure and give us another chance. Because our reasons are our motivations. Let they at least motivate us to learn to work together."
Hanabi was observing the three of them, processing their words and reading their body languages. They were helpless and desperate, but sincere. In that case; let's put them through another test.
"Very well. I will give you another chance" she said to them seriously.
They looked at her with hope and gratitude.
"First stop your bowing." They scrambled on their feet and took a sitting position.
"I'll give you another test. This time no questions will be allowed. You listen and you do it. It will up to you to figure out how to achieve the best result." They looked at her and waited, listening to every single word. This time they will succeed, they had to.
"Written in this scroll," she started while looking at the object in question "is an important piece of information that I want. Your task is to choose who gets to read it aloud."
They stared at her, completely confused. What kind of test was that?
"The one who will read that information will fail. In summary: only one of you three must read the scroll, the other two can just listen to him or her. The one who fails will return to the Academy, the other two will get a new teammate. If none of you read the information, you will all fail." she concluded.
The 3 genin were looking at the object they so desperately fought to obtain just a few moments ago. They were horrified. This was like a suicide mission; their aim was to designate who will die so that the other two may live.
"Well I'm off for lunch. You three stay here and give me your answer when I return. There is a seal on that scroll that will inform me when it's broken, so that I will know that you've made your choice" the woman said to them as she walked away from them.
"Good luck" they heard from a distance.
They stayed quiet for a while.
Metal was sitting cross-legged and cross-armed, still staring at the scroll.
Hinabachi was sitting on her legs, with her chin in the right hand while the other was touching her right elbow.
Tsubasa was lying on his back, staring at the clouds. With a hand at the back of his head while the other was playing with one of his long bangs.
What are we going to do? They all thought. None of them wanted to repeat a year.
"So…" Metal started "you guys have a plan?"
"I cannot think of any possible solution that will spare all of us" Hinabachi said in a serious tone.
"So it's really a suicide mission, eh" Tsubasa said as closed his eye, anxiety and despair were flowing through him.
"What if we capture someone, pretend it's an enemy, have him read it and then we all tell sensei the information?" Metal suggested hopefully.
"This plan does not fulfil the requirement that one of us must be the reader. She said and I quote: If none of you read the information, you will all fail. Therefore one of us has to read it" Hinabachi explained calmly.
"OK, then how about…" Metal started, clearly struggling to think of something. "How about we use Kage Bunshin to read the information. That way the one who will die will just be a bunshin, right?"
"Do any of you know this technique?" Hinabachi inquired honestly. No one answered.
"Then…" Metal started.
"Enough you idiot! Can't you put this in your head already? There is no other way. One of us has to sacrifice himself so the other two can pass" Tsubasa shouted angrily. He was pissed. Not at Metal, but at all that was happening. He was exhausted from the fight earlier, his future hanged in balance, he could be sacrificed by those two for all he know, and that hothead was not coming up with anything good, not that it was surprising.
"At least I'm thinking" interjected the tall youth. "I don't see you coming up with anything."
"You're thinking? Since when have you THOUGHT about anything in your life besides working out and hitting things?"
"And you? You're nothing but a wuss who only thinks of girls and his looks. Why did you even bother with all this? Out of all the people in the class you have the least motivation into becoming a ninja, otherwise you would have worked harder."
Tsubasa stood up glaring at him, he felt a strong urge to rip the idiot's mouth apart. He immediately started weaving a hand seal. The latter stood up as well and put his guard up.
"You think you have a chance. You've never beaten me because you don't have a chakra control good enough to dispel any genjutsu" the green haired boy sneered him.
"Before your genjutsu can even start affecting me, you will already be on the ground with a black eye" Metal responded, anger twisting his features.
Hinabachi, who was sitting between them, had been quietly listening to their conversation. Based on what they have said, there was no actual animosity between them. In fact both of them had an incomplete, probably even biased, image of each other. They both have made up their minds that the other was the worst kind of person based on appearances instead of in-depth research. This was supposed to be a norm for teenagers.
But they were not regular teenagers, they were ninjas. They would have to learn to mature quickly and put aside those childish behaviours in order to achieve success in all their missions. Their lives could be on the line after all.
Hinabachi could not exactly lecture them though. She had her own shortcomings. The fact that she failed the first test had been a testament to that. She realised that if she wanted to go back to Iwa, she has to become an exemplary Konoha ninja first. These two were not strangers, not anymore, they were her teammates. She has made so much effort into remembering the lessons from the adults in Iwa, that she had somehow ignored the advices the adults, and jonin, of this new village had been telling her.
Iwa and Konoha are allies. Their leaders are on friendly terms, having fought side-by-side during the war. They have a relationship based on trust, otherwise Tsuchikage-sama would not have sent me here. I must be the same with them the girl thought rationally.
"I am not from Konoha" she began talking, looking straight in front of her, as if there was someone else with them.
The two boys looked at her, so surprised that they forgot they were fighting.
"I was born in Iwagakure where I was, up till recently, working as a genin."
"Wait, WHAT?" Metal exclaimed, even more surprised. Tsubasa was looking at her with an open mouth.
Hinabachi looked at Metal calmly. "I said I was not from Konoha…" she began answering his query.
"Nonono, not that" Metal waved ones hand from side to side to interrupt her reply. "I mean you're a genin from Iwa?"
"Yes. For a few weeks."
"Then why are you here? Why are you not in a team back there?"
"My mother… passed away" she said sadly with only a slight movement in her thin eyebrows. The boys' expression changed from surprise to horror and sadness respectively. Metal was dismayed that he made her say those words and Tsubasa felt compassion towards her.
"I had… no other relatives, and… my clan, the Kamizuru clan, was looked down upon by the ninja community in Iwa. Something that happened a long time ago made them think that my clan produced unreliable and weak ninjas. My ex-teammates and I were… civil towards each other but they actively… disregarded my opinions regardless of my skills. The… my sensei thought that in order for me to realise my whole potential, I should immigrate to another hidden village. I initially refused, I did not wish to leave the house where I grew up. I did not really mind the discrimination. They mainly came from the ninjas after all, and my mother was a civilian, she had friendly relationships with many other civilians."
"What about your father? You did not mention him" Tsubasa interrupted her. Usually he would consider such a query rude, but he felt he needed to ask. He was someone who treasured his family the most, and he did not think he could handle losing either of his parents. Yet here was a girl who went through what he would call his worst nightmare.
"He…" she hesitated. "He… I… I don't want to talk about him. I'm sorry" Hinabachi looked down.
"It's okay, I'm sorry I asked. That was rude of me" Tsubasa quickly apologised.
"No, it was a logical question to ask when listening to such a story" Hinabachi reassured him. Tsubasa felt strangely relieved.
"As I was saying, I initially refused to leave Iwa, but my sensei insisted, and said it was also a good opportunity to assess how Konoha's ninja training system faired compared to Iwa. Also civilian moving from one village to the other might be a common occurrence, but an active ninja from one of the main villages immigrating to another main village was unheard of. I made several other objections but they were all rejected, so I was forced to come here, and have to remain, until I achieve a promotion. That was the condition my sensei made." She took a deep breath.
"I need to become stronger so that I can return home" she said in a tone that concluded her story.
"So that's your reason for wanting to become a chunin?" Metal asked in an uncharacteristically soft tone.
Hinabachi nodded. What she said was the truth, but not in its entirety. She could not reveal the other details of that story, if it leaked out it could be dangerous for her, and especially the people who helped her. She would trust these two boys but little by little.
"Wh… why are you telling us all of this?" Tsubasa asked hesitantly.
"Because… I believe that we should listen to each other before we come to any kind of conclusion" the girl replied encouragingly. "It's as you said; our reasons should not interfere with our mission but become our motivation."
Tsubasa was impressed she remembered his words, words that he spouted in the moment, so well.
"I want to hear why you two want to become stronger" Hinabachi asked.
The boys looked at each other. Their quarrel already forgotten. Both were hesitant until Tsubasa closed his eyes and took a deep audible breath.
"My mother is sick" he simply said as he exhaled. His teammates looked at him; Metal had his mouth open a little at that last word while Hinabachi's expression was neutral. He was very uncomfortable telling them this but the girl had opened up to him, it would be unfair to not to do the same, if a little bit.
"It's a heart disease with no known cure" he continued ignoring the expressions of his audience. He wanted to tell all of this quickly and get it over with. "Sometimes she is healthy enough to go out while other times she has to remain in bed. On rare occasions her heart begins to hurt so badly, we have to call Tsunade-sama or Uchiha-sensei herself to come. However they cannot cure my mother completely, they don't know how to, no one in the world knows how to. The reason I want to become a medical ninja is because I want to find a cure for my mother's condition. The first requirement to become a medical ninja is of course to have the potential for it. I've already checked with the medical school that I do."
"However I have to become more than just a medical ninja, I have to become a specialist. For that I need a complete mastery over the basic medical ninjutsu. Then I need to be able to apply those techniques on the field. Missions that require a medical ninja are usually given to chunin and jonin so I have to become one first. Once I complete a certain amount of high ranked mission, I will have the pre-requisite experience to enter a specialised field. This, in turn, will allow me to enter the advanced course at the medical school which focuses on complex diseases and high level medical operations. That course is currently taught by Tsunade-sama. To find the cure will take me years, so I want to start as soon as possible" Tsubasa concluded.
There was an awkward silence.
I guess he's not so carefree after all thought Hinabachi.
Metal walked to Tsubasa and stared at him right in the eye with the most serious expression Tsubasa ever saw him made. He then threw himself on the ground, in the same position when he pleaded to Hanabi.
"I'M SORRY, TSUBASA-KUN" he shouted loudly. Tsubasa was dumbfounded.
"I NEVER KNEW YOU CARRIED SUCH BURDENS. I TAKE BACK ALL I SAY ABOUT YOU CARING ONLY FOR TRIVIAL THINGS"
The atmosphere grew even more awkward. Tsubasa was blushing in embarrassment, grateful that they were not in public at the moment.
"Metal do me a favour and stop yelling, I can hear you just fine" Tsubasa replied.
"WHAT? I AM APOLOGISING TO YOU AND THAT'S ALL YOU CAN SAY" Metal shouted as he stood up quickly.
"Although he could have been more polite about it, he is correct about you being too loud" Hinabachi interjected. Metal looked at her.
"You should refrain from it. It's a bad habit that could get you, and us, into trouble, especially for a ninja. But I truly like your enthusiasm and honesty so keep those traits at least" she said wisely.
Metal blushed a little. She was so serious it was difficult NOT to believe her.
"Well then, what is your reason for becoming stronger? I believe you said your dream was to become stronger than Might Gai."
Metal looked away. He was not keen into sharing his reason because…
"My reason for becoming stronger is not as important as the both of yours. You'll find it stupid" he said embarrassed.
Tsubasa frowned at him. He always had an unflattering opinion of that boy so this should not have surprised him but what he said left a bad taste in his mouth, perhaps it was due to his apology. Metal had many faults but he was still a good guy. Before he could say anything, Hinabachi replied
"How about you tell us first, then we will tell you whether we find it trivial? I promise to give you an honest opinion."
Metal looked at both of them, then at the ground.
"I want to become the strongest taijutsu fighter in the world" he said before pausing.
"I was born with a condition similar to my father's. It's not a disease. I just can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu. I can mould and control my chakra normally and my reserves are big as well thanks to my training, but my chakra coils are so small that I cannot use even the most basic ninjutsu. I was told that those coils will grow alongside my body but that's it. I cannot make them bigger through training."
Tsubasa looked at the boy in a new way. He heard the rumours in the Academy about Metal not capable of using ninjutsu or genjutsu but he thought he was simply not suited to be a ninja. Unlike many who mocked the boy for his inability, Tsubasa was indifferent to Metal's predicament. However, hearing that Rock Lee, the greatest taijutsu master in Konoha, went through the same thing, he wondered if this boy had more potential than he initially assumed.
"So I focus on taijutsu just like my father and I enjoy it a lot. I feel so alive when I train and fight. However when I spar with him I can feel the huge gap between us. My father is so strong that he makes me feel that catching up is impossible, but people have been praising me about how I am like an exact replica of my father and that I will become as strong as him when I grow up. It felt good at first, but I could not help but feeling… sad" Metal said bowing his head in shame.
"Why?" Tsubasa asked.
"Because I don't want to be just like my father" he looked back at his teammates and quickly said "Don't get me wrong, I am proud of him. I am proud to be his son. And I am proud that people thinks I am going to grow to be just like him but…"
He looked away again, breathing heavily. The others patiently wait for him to finish.
"But I don't want to be just that. I want to be more than just Rock Lee's son. I want people to address me by my name while thinking 'he's the strongest fighter in the world'. I guess I'm just scared of becoming nothing but a copy" he finished still in a sad voice.
Before anyone could say anything he added quickly "So you see? It's a stupid reason. Unlike you two I haven't lost anything or wanting to save someone, I'm just a… a…"
An opened hand appeared in front of his face, signalling him to stop. Hinabachi was looking at him, her stoicism unchanged.
"That last part was unnecessary. In my honest opinion, your reason is not worse than ours in any way. There is nothing shameful in aiming to become someone great" she said as he listened to her every word.
"'To become the strongest fighter in the world' is a laudable goal, it is not easy, and like ours, will likely take a long time to achieve but it is admirable. You are someone who will not contend himself with his current abilities, despite the opinions of others, and will constantly take the path of self-improvement. I could tell you stories of many great warriors who stopped improving themselves when they reached a certain point in their lives, and believe me, most of them end up in an abysmal situation. Do not compare yourself to us. I know the pain of losing a loved one well enough to not wish it upon anyone, not even my enemies. I am not someone who will look down on you because he did not go through the same hardships as me" she paused.
"My mother once told me "To wish misfortune on someone who did nothing to you will only result in your own misery." She wanted me to understand that being envious of someone else's life will only result in making me feel like a terrible person. So I decided to just work on the life which I was fortunate enough to have. That is not so different from you, right?"
The boys both looked at her in wonder. They never thought of life in such a deep way. They all stayed silent for a while, thinking about what their teammate had just said.
"I'm sorry" Tsubasa said in a barely audible voice.
Metal looked up. The green-haired boy was looking away, his bangs covering his eyes.
"I was angry at you because I did not like how excited you always looked. I felt that, unlike me, you had no troubles in your life. That unlike me, who keeps thinking about what he could lose, you would never lose anything. And I hated myself for feeling that way, so I took it out on you."
Metal said nothing, he thought that way about Tsubasa as well. Perhaps a bit less though. The silence was getting more and more awkward. God, make it stop thought Tsubasa.
"Now that we have cleared this animosity between us, can anyone think of any ideas on how we should tackle this last test? I'm afraid we are almost out of time" Hinabachi said as she looked at the scroll still on the ground.
The two boys turned and looked at the damn thing as well. They had completely forgotten about that.
"I cannot think of anything but the worst option: someone has to sacrifice himself" Tsubasa said.
"I'll do it" Metal said fiercely, frowning at the scroll.
"What?" Tsubasa said, his anger surfacing.
"I said 'I'll do it'. I'll read the scroll so that the two of you can pass" he said as he bend down, his hand reaching for the scroll. Before he could even touch it, Tsubasa grabbed his wrists firmly, stopping him.
"What do you think you're doing? Do you really think that I will accept that?" Tsubasa said loudly.
"Both of you have something important to do. Mine can wait another year. I can still train and get stronger" Metal replied loudly as well.
"Stop it the both of you. Metal, do not use our reasons for your decision" Hinabachi interjected. The boys once again looked at her. "Hanabi-sensei said so herself; our reasons do not matter, we should not let them affect any mission."
"But there is no other way to pass" Metal said as Tsubasa released him.
"Suppose we do let you sacrifice yourself, would that not defeat the purpose of this test? I mean I have read past mission reports where ninjas bravely sacrificed themselves to ensure success, but remember what sensei said "This is a test, not a mission, rules and manners have to be followed." This test is about teamwork. I do not think sacrificing a teammate shows that, do you?"
There was a brief pause.
"You're right, but what is the solution then. How can we pass this?" Tsubasa asked.
There was no answer. Hinabachi was still thinking but could not find anything.
"Always do what you believe is right" Metal said in a low tone, eyes closed in thought.
"What?" "Sorry?" the other two said at the same time.
"I'm sure either of your parents has told you something like that" he said while grinning.
They thought and nodded with a smile, remembering this popular sentence, or something similar, almost every parent said to their children at some point in their lives. It was a sappy thought.
"What does that have to do with now?" Tsubasa asked.
"Well, we cannot come up with anything, and we won't be okay if either one of us decide to take the fall, right?" he asked to the other two.
They nodded.
"Then let us do what we believe is right" he said with a smile.
"Do we all think the same thing to be right?" Tsubasa asked.
"I believe we do. Based on our interaction thus far, I think we all have the same opinion on what is right. I could be wrong though. Since what I think is right might not sit well with either of you" Hinabachi said.
"Same here" Tsubasa said.
"Me too" Metal said with a wide grin. "Alright then let's just follow our gut on this one. I want to say though; I'm really glad to have you two as my teammates"
Hinabachi nodded. Tsubasa smirked. Both thought the same thing.
They heard someone approaching. Hanabi was walking towards them.
Unbeknownst to either of them, she had concealed her presence and watched their entire conversation but did not listen, hoping they could still surprise her. Let's see if they've learned she thought.
She sat down on the log again and looked at them critically, with that same serious face from before.
"So" she started "what is the information?"
All three children look at each other, then the green-haired boy and the girl looked at their last teammate and smile encouragingly at him. Oh no, don't tell me they chose him.
The boy in question picked up the scroll and gave it to her with a wide grin. He saluted and said "Sorry ma'am. I'm afraid we have failed."
"Explain" Hanabi asked hopefully.
"MA'AM. None of us were willing to sacrifice a teammate. We thought a lot but nothing came up. Since none of us has opened the scroll and read the information, we have failed your test. We now await your judgement."
"So all of you are okay to go back to the Academy for another year? Did you not have something important to do?" she inquired, frowning at them.
"Sensei, none of us want to go back. But none of us want to sacrifice someone else either. So this is the best we could come up with" Tsubasa said to her.
The jonin studied them, their faces, and their body language. Metal looked nervous, he was starting to sweat. Hinabachi looked down, not wanting to look at her in the eyes. And Tsubasa looked up, eyes closed, like he was waiting for his execution.
Hanabi smiled warmly "Congratulations Team 11, you pass."
