Seven. Breaking the Lid.

Rikai finally turned round, to see her youngest's nose held with cotton, his eye slowly going purple. Her eyes narrowed as the boy grinned in apology.
- Maito Gai – she said sternly – Fighting again?
- N-no... t-taijutsu class...
- You had NO taijutsu today, it's FRIDAY!

Gai cowered before her blazing blue eyes. Better not lie to her, better not..
- Ka-Kaa-chan... father approves of it, really...
- Oh, really? Sit still, let me clean that! And don't move! Alcohol in the eyes is terrible!

After a thorough cleansing, protests, wrestling and a fair amount of winces, Gai sat down to eat his lunch. Finally allowed to go to his older brother's room, he kept his left eye closed, resembling unexpectedly a wink.

---------------------------
Tora was lying on his bed, so calm and collected that Gai at first glance didn't notice the large bandage across his ribcage.
- Hello, Gai. –

Another thing Gai liked from Tora was that he didn't use Shoshun-kun or Gai-kun, or Gai-chan (arghhh!) just simple and plain Gai.That levelled up the six-year old with the almost twenty-two year old.

– Long time no see. What's that lump under your eye?
- Tripped over.- The boy was sulky and moody.
- Ahh, now fighting is called trip-over. And my chest was hit with a water hose, too. The Hatake boy?
- Kakashi...
- Must be pretty tough to leave you that souvenir – Tora was speaking in a cool way, without self-pity or worry. Gai felt an onsurge of admiration towards his nii-san. But stared blankly when the young man grunted as he started to dress himself.

- W-wait, where are you going?
- Outside. And you better come with... me.
- But your injury!
- Ah, you're so like mother – he smiled, touching his chest – There's nothing that terrible with a ninjato cut... I get them all the time, after all.

To be that injured and not cry out...

Both brothers stepped into the family patio. It was covered with practice dummies, half-chopped trees and ambush-practice perchs. The boy's eyes swept around. He sensed they were not alone.
- Saru-kun, get out.

Masaru, the second eldest, poofed in. His shiny hair was a murky, blackish orange color, shining in the bright afternoon sun.. Being the medical prodigy of the family, he had attended Gai's birth and was especially fond of his kid brother. His narrow, blue eyes were fixed in the youngest of the Maito no Juugo, with uncertainty.

- Here you are – his hand, covered in a black fingerless glove, extended towards Tora. It contained a handkerchief.
- Okay. Ru-chan, time for you to come out.

A girly, but somehow blood-chilling laugh, erupted from nowhere, An orange-haired kunoichi, two small ponytails hanging in the back of her head, jumped from above a training dummy. She grinned with all thirty-two teeth. That was Ruizi, also known as Maito no Kichigai (Mad Maito). Her fondess for battle had left her on hold for ANBU twice: she was now deemed as a power to be reckoned with.

Gai knew his sister far too well. She was delighted to care for him when he was smaller, and it had been Ruizi's kunai throwing that aided his onwatching brother into not making a complete fool of himself. Ruizi was seen by most Konohagakure's inhabitants as a psycho, but she always cared for him. More than even his closest-age brothers would do.

- First, for what I've been told, you still seem to have trouble in basics. That's why I asked Saru-kun and Ru-chan to be here.
- You said this had to do with the family exam – Masaru voiced his concern. He was seen as a very level-headed individual, considering he was an underling to the skillful Tsunade – and that he had to cope with her drinking habit, of course. Between Tora -eyes closed, hands in his pockets- and Ruizi -smiling widely while playting with her fuusha- he was cautious and adviseful, a white fly.

-Ex-actly. This has to do, but not completely. You see, Gai here wants to become a full-fledged ninja, but his skills are basic. So we're going to aid him to use other tools. Ruizi, bandage.

The kunoichi, smirking, tied the handkerchief as a blind across Gai's eyes. She took a handful of fuusha and flashed back to her dummy. There she stood, eager and in the waiting.
The medic nin gasped when he understood the gesture. Tora just walked towards Gai and guided the boy just in front of another training post.

- Those exercises are beyond his reach! – Masaru almost cried out.
- Who knows? Maybe he'll be more confident with the difficult than the easy. Getting in touch with his instinct is the first step of every shinobi.
- Tora no Chourou! Do you realize you are going to hurt him?

Not able to look, Gai heard Tora's voice turn icy.
- No, Masaru. It's you who's hurting him. Do you know how many times he's been told he is NOT able to do this or that, just because he's not as quick or accurate in the first try? Would you please take that blind out of your eyes, see what lies within your brother... and believe in him?

Lucky. So lucky. So very lucky that the blindfold was over his eyes. For the tears flooded his dark pupils, but remained concealed in the fabric, without seeping out. Tora believed in him. TORA believed in HIM. And a strength he never felt before seemed to fill his entire body. What was this, a new kind of jutsu?

- I'm ready! – he voiced, and his voice seemed more whole, more manly, more resolved than before. – I'm ready for whatever thing you throw at me!

He heard Masaru sigh, Tora's amused chuckle and Ruizi's shrilly laughter.
He couldn't hear Hayai, arms crossed and concealed behind another dummy.
But the most important and very next thing he heard, above Tora's "Begin!" shout, was the beating of his own heart.

In the academy, they said that true shinobi conceal their existence even in the slightest details. His heart was collected, calm, filled with energy but still slow. And so big it seemed to fill his chest.

He didn't know it yet, but he had just learned what self-pride felt like.