Team 27 had officially adopted Training Ground 11 as our designated training area. I have always expected training grounds to be on the fringes or remote places, but strangely enough, the training ground was near to the center of the village.
Things kind of fell into a routine after the initial team meeting. Elementary training, which mostly included tailoring the standard academy style Taijutsu to suit the genin and introduce some advanced concepts that weren't really advanced, was the preferred form of training of Tsuuki sensei.
Mostly we sparred with each other. Initially, it was individual sparring with alternate teammates. Sometimes there was free for all. It was a unique experience, for sure, to spar consistently with people of my age. As I noted during our first altercation, Fujita was good. Just not good enough of a challenge for me though. But, I could see him improving vastly in that short period of time. While Fujita preferred to be more technical and clear cut during the spars, Roku was entirely a different matter.
Simply put, Roku was more like a battering ram. There was no finesse to her techniques, she merely plowed through with sheer power. The first time I blocked one of her kicks, my hand had hurt as if it was hit with a stone pillar. However, after I started using chakra to enhance my defense, handling her was an easy task.
But, it didn't last for long. She too figured out how to enhance her attacks with chakra from Tsuki sensei and she was nearly unstoppable after that. My usual strategy in dealing with her involved a lot of ducking and avoiding her battering ram of attacks until she eventually wore out. While it was a novel experience to be outpowered by someone of my age, I didn't particularly enjoy it. Frankly, it hurt like hell and left a dozen or so bruises on my arms and legs regularly from the times I would have to inevitably block a hot or so.
Despite all this, I never lost a spar while sparring with them. But, the major problem was that my Taijutsu skills were at a standstill. Sure, I was getting a lot of experience and stuff, but in the end, it all amounted to nothing in the grand scheme of things.
I knew clearly that fighting enemy nin would not be like these regular spars. There wouldn't be time for protracted Taijutsu battles on the battlefield as there will be more than one enemy nin at the same time. And there was also the fact that they will be trying to kill me far more earnestly than Fujita was trying to hurt me.
Eh! Maybe not….
Fujita's constant string of losses to me has lit a fire in him. I sometimes suspect that he is mostly trying to kill me than hurt me. Recently, his attacks were far more brutal than it needs to be so in a sparring session. While I could understand his frustration, I didn't appreciate him trying to kill or maim me every Taijutsu spar. Seriously, the amount of time he has gone for my eyes or neck with a kunai frankly unnerves me.
But I got to say, both his and Roku's Taijutsu skills had increased dramatically in the past month. Mine, on the other hand….. If only sensei would spar with me…
Then, there were those suicide runs. Frankly, it was just exhausting to me. But for Roku and Fujita they were nothing but suicide runs. Sometimes, I think our runs would top even Gai's training regimen. If it is even possible.
That was one thing we all were treated equally on. When one day Fujita has griped about it, Tsuki sensei had given a hard stare that even made me afraid for life though it was not directed at me. His reasoning was simple enough to understand. As a genin, we would be mostly running if we run into any kind of trouble that is beyond our capability to handle. Considering it was wartime, those situations would be far more frequent than normal.
As a result, hell runs or suicide runs were a mandatory form of training every alternate day from the second week. And it was one thing Tsuki sensei wasn't budging on despite many protests from Roku and Fujita.
Let me tell you, those moments were rare and far between.
And then, there was that stealth training. Which was pretty useful for me as I had never planned to fight head on if I could avoid it. I would prefer to ambush my enemy in one shot than to stand and exchange blows. But considering the mindset of Fujita and Roku they never took that seriously. Frankly, they preferred to spar and even more to hunt. The normal form of stealth training is for one of us to hide and the other two to track us down.
Initially, it was fun. Until I became over-enthusiastic and let slip of my sensory skills. Then it became a moot point for Fujita and Roku to hide. Tsuki sensei wasn't pleased about that if the thin line his mouth made when I sheepishly apologized for it was anything to go by. So, then it became a tradition for Roku and Fujita to hunt me down often.
On rare occasions, Sensei would also join the hunt and make me really work hard to hold out for at least fifteen minutes. I think he mostly did it to keep my feet on the ground than to train me. Still, I wasn't complaining.
This became a routine for a month or so. While on the outside everything looked fine, I couldn't but help feeling that something was wrong. On the rare occasions that I started to actually ruminate on the day's events, I would feel as if I was an extra wheel on the team. It was really an irritating feeling.
Roku and Fujita were close to each other than they were with me. Considering how me and Fujita got along spectacularly with each other like fire and water, considering that his chakra nature was fire I think it was a supreme irony for us to be in the same team, there were very few possibilities for me to socialize with them outside of the training field. It left me tagging along like a sidekick as the duo usually discussed various things.
Sometimes, Roku would try to include me in the conversations. But, things would soon go downhill as my responses would somehow piss off the resident emo-child. He would somehow find a way to get annoyed with my response and then it would eventually lead into him trying to pick a fight with me and me ignoring him.
After few such fiascos, Roku refrained from including me into their conversations. Rarely, I get some time alone with Roku and just when we were past the initial awkwardness, either Fujita or Tsuki sensei will appear and the conversation would fizzle out.
Tsuki sensei had no smiles for me. Not even an approval or acknowledging grunt when I did something right. On the other hand, both Roku and Fujita garnered plenty of smiles and approving nods after each session of training. And a bitter feeling would rise in me every time I saw Tsuki sensei pat them on the back.
But, as an adult in mind, I reigned those feelings in. Whenever they rose, I would stomp them down ruthlessly and rationalize in my head that it was only natural after the rocky start I had with Tsuki sensei.
Ninjas were paranoid bastards, Jounins especially so. So, it didn't surprise me that Tsuki sensei was not as warm to me as he was to the duo. While my mature mind didn't need those extra motivations, I am sure the Third Shinobi War was enough motivation for me, it still made me bitter sometimes.
I could only hope that things would look up in the future after Tsuki sensei got to know me a little better and Fujita started picking fights with me. And I couldn't wait for it to happen.
While things with the team were going normally as one would the team front, the isolation from the interactions provided me with a lot of free time for me to peruse other forms of training I had planned for me. In the past month, I had discovered that I have a knack for water natured jutsus. I have finished perfecting the Water Clone jutsu and have elementary proficiency with the Water Bullet jutsu that I had found on one of the scrolls Danzo had left me with.
The Water Bullet jutsu was a little advanced than the Water Clone jutsu. It required me to concentrate more than it was required for the clone technique and it also took almost a minute for me to create it. And frankly, it was not acceptable. In a fight, the extra seconds it took me to create this technique would spell my doom. So, I was currently concentrating on reducing the time needed to perform the technique. The ideal time would be to create the jutsu and unleash it within a couple of seconds which was a long way from where I was currently.
The main problem I faced was the buildup of chakra in my lungs. It was taking me concentrated effort to achieve that. Then comes the transformation of the nature, before it was ultimately unleashed at the target.
Currently, I was taking around fifteen seconds for the first phase, ten for the second and seven for the third. So, I have taken to practice the technique until it became as easy as throwing kunai or shuriken. And I have also taken to practicing the hand seals to become very fluent with them.
Apart from that, I also had Fuinjutsu lessons with Kushina, which were frankly a nightmare these days. Ever since I had graduated, Kushina has deemed that I am now qualified to start with advanced concepts.
While I was glad for it, the standards Kushina was expecting of me was simply monstrous. First of all, the concepts were becoming way too hard to understand as opposed to normal concepts. Just the amount of variables each seal needed for me to take into account was alone mind-boggling. Then. there were the different chakra needs for each part of the seals. And to top it off, I had to make sure that whatever I wanted it to do was perfectly within fuinjutsu parameters.
There was this general misconception that the seals were a fix all method. But the reality is that seals were both structured and flexible. While anything you dream of can be made into a seal theoretically, to put it in practice was another thing entirely.
Frankly, it's kind of like creating new jutsus. You know what your new jutsu wants to do even before you begin, but making it do that was where the difficulty in the creation lies with. For instance, you need to know what hand seals to use, and in which order, and how chakra should flow, and quite a lot of other things.
To put it simply, there are a lot of parameters to take into consideration and quite a bit of rules to follow. The trick is to find a way to create a seal to do exactly what you want within the existing set of rules and regulations. It's like finding your way out of a maze. The only good thing is that the maze has more routes to the outside. But, the catch is that each route leads you to a different place.
In other words, there is no one way to achieve what you want with the seals. As long as you act within the fuinjutsu concepts and guidelines and make it work it is fine. But every different method results in different forms of the outcome. For example, if I wanted to store a certain amount of water in the scroll, the basic principle is to specify the amount of water I want to store and create adequate space for it to be stored. However, each variation of such a seal would result in varying outcomes. If I don't put the right temperature, then the water might either freeze or start to boil. Likewise, if I don't specify the right atmospheric pressure in the created space, it might inadvertently affect the water stored in it in some shape or form.
Despite getting this all right, a shoddily sketched out seal may result in storing less than preferred amount or even backfire causing the seal creator to get injured. And that's not the worst part. Getting it wrong may result in failure, however getting it done shabily would result in the seal malfunctioning at a critical moment or even before it was needed.
And this was just a storage seal.
"So, you want to learn about Barrier Seals huh?" Kushina glared down at me as I sheepishly smiled up at her.
"I guess," I hedged a little seeing an evil glint appear in Kushina's eyes.
As I watched nervously, the evil glint became a full-blown smirk on her face and my only response to seeing Kushina in such a state was to gulp audibly.
"Well, since you are so interested, who am I to say no?" Kushina positively beamed causing me to have second thoughts on the whole thing. "Now, let's get started dattebayo!"
What followed was a ridiculous amount of theoretical concepts that went way over my head to be crammed into my mind forcefully by Kushina. As I was on the verge of giving up the idea entirely, she upped the notch by trapping me in a small barrier circle. The only way for me to get out was to understand the concepts she had just crammed into my head and break the barrier by altering the seal.
And I was foolish enough to tell her that I didn't know how to alter existing seals apart from the small amount of tinkering I had done with my seal weights. Which was then followed by another lecture as to how to apply basic fuinjutsu principles and break open seals that was used to trap or prevent someone from gaining access.
To sum it up, it was similar to jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. After what felt like hours of lecturing, where I had begun to yawn uncontrollably, Kushina's rant into fuinjutsu concepts came to an end.
"So, can I get out now?" I asked in a dull tone.
And the smile Kushina graced me with sent chills down my body. She simply bent down and started altering the seal that she had used to trap me with. Once done, she drew up with a blinding smile that was telling me to run far away and cheerfully announced I can get out when I had broken this seal and walked away with her things.
Initially, I was wary of the new addition she had made. But, nothing seemed to be different from before. So, after five minutes or so, I shifted my attention to the entire seal in question placed before me and started studying it, hoping to get lucky and find a way to break this seal so that I could get out.
Something caught the corner of my eyes in the seal. It was squiggled like a ten followed by one, and kanji I was very familiar with. I had a foreboding feeling about that particular part. Still, I pulled myself away from it and concentrated on the entire seal structure. The seal was shaped like a circle and an immediate scanning of my surroundings with my chakra sense indicated that there was a circular barrier around me.
"So far, so good," I mumbled to myself as i tried to decipher what kind of a barrier she had used.
From her lecture earlier, it was clear that there were different kinds of barrier. The nature of those depended on what kind of purpose it was used for. I concentrated my chakra and tried to test the barrier for its sturdiness, hoping to overpower it and simply break out.
No such luck.
I knew it wasn't going to be that easy. So, now I studied the seal again. The circle was linked to a character indicating a certain number and that number seemed to be the focal point on which the seal was based off. I immediately knew that in order to break the seal, I must overcome that number.
I let my eyes roam hoping to find a clue as to what that number meant. But, my eyes unconsciously drifted back to the same squiggly lines of ten followed by one and that familiar character. Something in me said that the portion of the seal was somehow important. But, I didn't know in which way they were important.
But as I pulled back a little and changed the angle of the view a little more aerial, I saw a narrow streak of line connecting the circle, the familiar kanji, and the numbers. Before I could process what it meant, a slight jolt of electricity passed through my body making my hair stand straight.
My eyes widened in understanding. That was a timer. Roughly ten minutes have passed since Kushina left, and that was the character for lightning in kanji. That means I must endure this jolt of shock every ten minutes. And that one must be the number of times for the electricity to pass through.
Ah Crap!
I have to break this seal as soon as possible. I gritted my teeth and tried to process what the hell those numbers in the focal point meant. But, I couldn't get off that easy can I?
Another jolt of electricity passed through my body causing a stinging sensation to develop in my nerves.
Crap!
That one was not the number times for the electricity to pass through. If the slight subscript format was right, then it must mean that the electricity will pass through every minute from now.
Oh shit!
I cursed all the gods in the universe, this and my previous world, and rankled my brain to try and figure out what those darned numbers in the center meant.
Bzzzt!
(*****)
It took me a full twenty minutes to break that seal. And the answer…. It was my damned height. That barrier was made to trap someone below that particular height in that barrier. All it required was for me to henge into a tall guy and I was out.
As barriers went, it was an easy barrier to destroy. But, in those twenty minutes, I had gotten shocked about eleven times and as a result, my nerves were tingling for the entire day. From that moment, it became apparent to me that I had voluntarily walked into hell and tweaked the mustache of the guy incharge.
Still, it was beneficial for me. My fuinjutsu lessons were then a form of torture and learning. I say torture first because most of the lesson I would be in one form of agony or the other. Kushina began to trap me in a myriad of barriers and made me break out of them.
When I had complained that I asked to be taught about barrier fuinjutsu and not about breaking them, her reply was simple.
"One who knows how to break barriers will be the one who can actually create barriers that can't be broken, Hato-kun. The more barriers you break the more forms of weakness you will know about and prepare for that into your seal."
It kind of made sense in a weird sort of way. Regardless, I can't say that it wasn't effective. Her regular torture sessions made me learn about barrier seals in double the pace.
(*****)
"You think I should listen to you and your stupid ideas?" Fujita shouted in my face and I had to curb the urge to punch him right in his mouth.
This has been the trend for the past week. Tsuki sensei had officially started to make us do some D-rank missions. While everything was normal, as normal as it could have been, during the training phase, the moment D rank missions came into play, things have started to fall out. Every suggestion I made on how to handle those D rank missions was met with vehement protest by Fujita. No matter how reasonable they are, Fujita just doesn't want to do it. And to make matters worse, Tsuki sensei merely stood to the side and watched us argue every time.
Frankly, it was beginning to grate on my nerves a little.
"Look Fujita, the route I suggested is the quickest way to deliver all these missives in a short amount of time," I patiently explained to him.
"No, we are in the center of the village. The easiest way is to take the route I suggested." Fujita said with finality as if the matter was done with since he said so.
I could feel a headache forming listening to him. The route he has suggested made us run all around the village with so sense of cohesion or planning. It was plainly ridiculous to follow his plan as I very well knew that two particular streets he suggested us going through didn't actually connect with the location, but rather landed us in the backside of the buildings through which there were no accessible streets nearby to just walk a little extra and deliver them. It would mean that we have essentially traverse back two more streets and turn right into the street I suggested via another route.
"What do you think?" I asked Roku who was munching on some Arari that she had brought.
"I don't know the streets that well. You guys decide," Roku said the most political answer I had heard making me look at her in disbelief.
I get it that she and Fujita were closer than me and her, but still, this was utter bullshit. I let out an exasperated groan and eyed Tsuki sensei. Yes, no help from there either.
"Look, idiot, I gritted out. That street is a dead end. The entrance to the Intelligence Division lies on the opposite street. The best way is to take the right after the Inuzaka compound."
Fujita bristled and looked as if he was going to argue more. Instead, he grabbed the courier bag from Roku and started walking adamantly in the direction he had suggested. I looked at him with disbelief. Then, groaned before following after him. Roku and Tsuki sensei took up the rear.
As we were halfway through the delivery, Fujita smirked at me in a smug way taunting me. I merely ignored him and walked with my hands in my pocket dreaming about how I wanted to tailor my ninja outfit. Until now, I had been wearing a pretty standard gear. Lately, I have been toying with the idea of creating a unique outfit to identify me.
Let's face it, almost all the cool ninja in the series had a unique outfit that signified them. Kakashi's mask, Naruto's jumpsuit, the Akatsuki cloak, Gaara's gourd, and so on. So, it was only practical for me to look the part if I was going to be an S-rank ninja one day. Also, it was the only thing that was keeping me from throttling Fujita these days. I began this project as a way to pass time initially while we were doing the D-ranks. But, it had taken a life of its own and now I was seriously debating on varying colors, styles and so on. I was even debating to go with how Tobirama looked in the series just for the sheer effect it would cause in the battlefield.
Frankly, while it appealed to me a lot, I was also worried that I would inadvertently paint a target on my back. Because let's face it, I am already looking like a miniature version of him and if the outfit was added, I would, without doubt, look like a mini-Tobirama, and what could go wrong with such a young child appearing like Tobirama in the battlefield. It would be a miracle if they didn't send a special team just to eliminate me.
"Ah, Fujita kun, I think this street is a dead end," Roku said in her gruff voice with a sheepish look.
I looked up to find Fujita blankly staring at the back of the Intelligence Division building. It was not a dead end per se, for anyone taking the aerial route over the rooftops, it was the shortest route. However, that was not the case with us as we were traveling through the streets in a normal way. It was exactly what I had warned him about earlier.
Unable to contain myself, "Well, genius. Here is the building. Go, deliver the scroll and come," I said slyly.
Fujita glowered at me and I merely smirked at him.
"Shut up. Just because there is no entrance. It doesn't mean that there is no way in. Watch me, I will deliver this," he said looking at the window on the first floor.
"Ah! I wouldn't do that if I were you," I warned him seeing him contemplating to use that window.
"Shut up, you coward." he hissed at me and started walking towards the building at the end of the street.
I turned to Tsuki sensei who was standing to the side and asked, "Are you going to let him do it?"
Tsuki sensei eyed me critically before replying, "Isn't he your teammate?"
"Okayyyy…." I singsonged and made my way to the nearest building to lean on it and watch the show.
Tsuki sensei looked at me in disapproval, but I didn't care one whit. Roku looked between us puzzled.
"What's wrong?" Roku asked nervously.
"Nothing," I shrugged and watched as Fujita was almost to the building.
"Hatorama kun, aren't you going to stop him?" Tsuki sensei asked in a grave tone.
"I tried, unfortunately, he doesn't listen to me. We could have avoided all this if he had listened to me from the beginning." I said with no apparent guilt.
Tsuki sensei eyed me once and turned to shout at Fujita.
Roku neared me and asked, "What is going to happen?"
"He is going to learn a very important lesson," I said cryptically as I watched Fujita ignore Tsuki sensei and jump to the window ledge.
Tsuki sensei cursed and took off after him. But, it was already too late. If Tsuki sensei had left without trying to interrogate me, this could have been avoided. Or if Fujita has listened to any of my warnings too. Fujita has already pried open the window and the next moment a snake shot out and coiled around his neck. Roku screamed beside me. Fujita wasn't an exception. I merely raised an eyebrow. I was expecting a kunai or a kick, a snake was definitely not on my list.
Well, this should be interesting.
The snake dragged Fujita inside unceremoniously and Tsuki sensei groaned.
"Shishou, I caught someone sneaking by the window. Should I let Midori eat him?" a childish voice screeched from inside the room.
Roku screamed beside me as Tsuki sensei stood stock still in shock.
"Well, well, this is turning from a slight misunderstanding into a fiasco," I mumbled to myself.
I knew what this meant. Orochimaru was inside and with the level of clearance he has, every information in his possession can possibly be very sensitive information.
"I see," Orochimaru's voice echoed from inside.
Sure enough, within seconds the Snake bastard was looking down at our team from the window with Fujita still held in a chokehold by the snake near him. A chibi Anko was looking at the snake and Fujita with a disturbing amount of glee.
"And that's why you should use only the authorized entry point when dealing with the intelligent division," I said mildly to Roku who was hyperventilating beside me.
"Tsuki san," Orochimaru looked down at Tsuki sensei with a small smile playing across his face.
"Orochimaru san, if you would ask your apprentice to release my student," Tsuki sensei said rigidly.
"And why would I do that?" Orochimaru asked silkily with barely contained glee. "By all rights, I should take him to interrogation to ensure that he hadn't heard any sensitive information."
"I can assure you, he was just being foolish and he didn't have enough time to eavesdrop." Tsuki sensei said in a tight voice.
"One would think that a genin would know the authorized entry points into information division," Orochimaru drawled without giving any indication to release Fujita. "Especially, considering you have Hato kun in your team."
And he had to just do that. I groaned internally. I merely smiled and shrugged my shoulders.
"It is not a proper form to withhold such sensitive information, Hato kun," Orochimaru spoke silkily to me without bothering to accede to Tsuki sensei's demand.
"I tried to warn him, it's his fault that he doesn't listen to any of my warnings," I offered in return as I mentally cursed all the gods for Orochimaru's presence.
"Looks like your team lacks proper teamwork Tsuki san," Orochimaru said while gesturing to Anko to release Fujita.
Anko pouted adorably before she made the snake release Fujita, Fujita gasped audibly as he took in large gulps of air. The terror on his face was palpable. Roku breathed a sigh of relief beside me.
"I will make sure of that," Tsuki sensei gritted out.
Orochimaru nodded regally before throwing Fujita out unceremoniously. As he retreated from the window, Anko looked down at a disheveled Fujita with a pout before shutting the window.
"Finish the mission," Tsuki sensei ordered us in a tone that barely restrained his displeasure.
I shrugged and walked over to Fujita. I picked up the courier bag from the ground beside him before giving him a small smirk and walked back the right way to retract two streets to the Inuzaka compound.
(*****)
To say that Tsuki sensei wasn't pleased to run into Orochimaru would be an understatement. If the tightening of his jaw was anything to go by, he seemed ready to strangle the lot of us. Even Roku and Fujita were walking on pins and needles as we completed the rest of the mission.
As soon as the mission was done and we have reported to the Hokage Tower, Tsuki sensei took us all to our usual training ground without speaking a single word. The moment we entered the training ground and assumed our usual spots, he rounded on us with severe displeasure radiating from him.
All three of us shrunk back seeing the look on his face.
"That…..was a…. disaster," he bit out struggling to contain his temper.
None of us answered that. While Roku and Fujita were busily examining their feet, I looked around everywhere expect at our sensei. In hindsight, that would have sent a wrong message to Tsuki sensei. Frankly, I wasn't feeling any guilt. The entire fault lay with Fujita and some portion lay with Tsuki sensei.
If Fujita had listened to any of my suggestions, then it would have been avoided. At least, Tsuki sensei must have intervened when he knew that Fujita was just being willful. Instead, he had stood back and watched us. While I could understand that he wanted us to sort out our issues by ourselves, not even reprimanding Fujita was his mistake.
I think my thoughts must have shown on my face, for Tsuki sensei rounded on me.
"What do you think you guys were doing?" Tsuki sensei barked at us. "That was the worst example of teamwork I had seen in my entire career. If this continued, you would all be dead in the first out-of-village mission."
I couldn't help but agree with that. With how Fujita was always hell-bent on not listening to anything I say, it might even lead us all to our deaths.
"And you," he pointed at me angrily, "is that how you treat your teammate?"
I gaped at Tsuki sensei. Was Tsuki sensei being serious?
"What? What did I do wrong?" I asked indignantly.
Tsuki sensei glowered at me, "You think you did nothing wrong eh? Why didn't you stop him when you know full well what he was doing was foolish?"
"Really," I deadpanned unable to believe the crap that was coming out of Tsuki sensei's mouth, "as if he would have listened to me."
"That is no excuse to let your teammate get into a dangerous situation just because you want to feel superior," he thundered back.
"Are you kidding me? I tried to tell him that there is no access to the Intelligence Division through that street. But, did he listen? No! And I even warned him not to approach the window. What else do you want me to do? Drag him by his ear like a little child?"
"So, just because he wouldn't listen to you, you would be glad to see him get into a dangerous situation?"
"That is a load of bullcrap, and you know it!" I shouted back.
"Don't use that tone with me, brat," Tsuki sensei's eyes narrowed.
I glared back not backing down. I could feel my hold on my temper slipping. I struggled very hard not to lose it.
"Just because you have led a privileged life till now, it doesn't mean I will treat you the same way. The next time you use that tone with me, I will make you regret it," Tsuki sensei thundered at me.
That does it.
"Privileged life, my ass," I spoke without caring about Tsuki sensei bristling before me, "I don't see you berating the idiot who caused all this, do I? You are acting as if I was the only one who made the mistake. Honestly, let's leave aside the fact that he wouldn't have listened to me aside, what were you doing eh? Did you correct him when he made that stupid plan, no! Did you stop him from approaching the window, no! Now, all of a sudden it was all my fault when the asshole who is the cause of all this is not even getting a single scolding. Are you freaking kidding me?"
Tsuki sensei was breathing like a raging bull. I wasn't any better. I was sure that my eyes were red by now. And that was never a good thing.
"Sensei…" Roku broke our staring contest in a meek tone.
When Tsuki turned his angry eyes on her, she shrunk back in fear. Seeing her cowering under his gaze, his eyes softened. Tsuki sensei took a deep breath and rubbed his forehead trying to get his temper under control.
"Twenty laps…. Everyone…" he grit out in a tight voice, "...now!"
Fujita and Roku readily jumped at the chance of escaping our sensei's irate look. I, on the other hand, left with a scathing look at him. My anger wasn't subsided, I felt like punching something. Still, he was my sensei and as a genin, it was my duty to listen to him.
I finished the laps in pure spite. I didn't even notice that the duo running alongside me was breathing heavily. I was sure that they both could feel how pissed off I was, but I couldn't care less of what they thought now. I was already at my tipping point. Almost two months of feeling like a third wheel, having no one to connect to, receiving zero to no instruction, taking Fujita's crap… everything was just... too much. And the fact that I was going to be sent to the frontlines soon was just icing on the cake.
I plonked down hard in front of Tsuki sensei and resisted glaring at him. Instead, I began to sketch some elementary seal designs on the ground. I could feel Tsuki sensei looking at me, but I didn't bother much about it too.
"What you guys exhibited today was absolutely atrocious," Tsuki sensei began, his voice normal now. But I was busy examining the triangular seal design I sketched out on the mud. "If this is the standard you guys have when we leave for an out-of-village mission, I would be bringing back three body scrolls instead of my team."
The triangular design didn't seem to be the right way to go about this particular seal. Maybe, I should use a box. But the addition of another side might disrupt the stability of seal. What should I do? Maybe, I should increase the strength to stabilize the seal… but it was not a guarantee. It might have an adverse effect…. Ugh, this is irritating.
"Fujita kun, you need to be less willful and more open to ideas from your teammates. You shouldn't go off on your own without your teammate's approval. Roku chan, you need to speak up more and not be afraid of hurting your friends with your opinions. While trying to be the peacekeeper is well and fine, you don't need to be always political in your answers."
The strength might have increased, but I could see that the stability was atrocious in this design. This is going to be a bother, I should start from scratch and try a different method.
"Hatorama, you need to put the team first. Instead of being petty and enjoying feeling superior to your teammates…. Hatorama I am talking to you,"
"I am listening," I said not looking up from the new design I had sketched out.
"You need to communicate better with your teammates. Your pride is not as important as your teammate's lives… Look at me when I am talking to you."
I reluctantly pulled my eyes from the seal design. Like always trying to think through various ways to create a seal to do what I want had settled my mind a little.
"Did you hear what I said?"
"Yeah, team first, no pride, let the idiot do whatever he wants and clean up after him," I said sarcastically.
Tsuki sensei's eyes narrowed.
"Hato kun," Roku interjected sensing another argument brewing.
I took a deep breath. "Yes sensei, I understand." I gritted out.
Tsuki sensei didn't seem happy about the response. But, I couldn't care less. I returned my eyes to the seal design.
"You are dismissed… Take tomorrow off, and think about what I said."
We all nodded like the dutiful genin we are, them two in acceptance, me just to get out of the training ground. I think Tsuki sensei sensed that I wasn't being entirely apologetic or accepting of his criticisms, but he let it go. He looked at us one last time, his hard eyes stayed on me for a few extra seconds, before he vanished in a swirl of leaves.
I immediately stood up, not bothering to bid goodbye to either of them and started walking towards the exit.
"Hato kun," Roku's voice made me pause as I was near to the exit. However, I didn't turn around.
"Maybe, we should all get together so that you and Fujita kun could talk things out," she suggested hesitantly, unsure of her own suggestion.
I furrowed my eyebrows trying to think whether I wanted to do this right now. If this invitation had been offered a day prior, I would have been glad to work things out with Fujita. But now,... As I thought about what had actually happened, I could feel my temper rising.
"Hey asshole! Roku chan is talking to you," Fujita growled at me.
Nope, definitely not. I was not sure whether I wouldn't throttle Fujita alive in my current mood. And that might actually be detrimental rather than helping us.
"Hato kun," Roku's pleading voice almost made me agree.
"Don't act like you are all that, asshole. Answer her. Didn't you hear sensei? You need to come off that high horse," Fujita shouted, his voice right behind me.
I could feel my temper rising just listening to his voice.
"Not now Roku," I grit out massaging my head and started walking away without waiting for their reply.
I was out and away from the training ground in a flash. I could hear Fujita shouting at me and Roku trying to calm him down behind me.
"Did you look at him? Who does he think he is? I am going to teach him a lesson," Fujita shouted before running after me.
I didn't hang around to hear Roku's reply. I picked up speed and left a yelling Fujita in the dust. But, I had underestimated his persistence. I could hear him shouting at me to stop and coming after me.
I felt a headache forming between my eyebrows. I was just not in the mood to stand and hear that jackass's self-righteous yelling at this time. If only Tsuki sensei had spent more time pointing out his mistakes instead of trying to pick faults with my behavior, he would have realized this entire thing was his fault.
However, after hearing him speak earlier, it was clear to me that he didn't think the fault lay with him. And currently, after that shouting match with Tsuki sensei, I wasn't in the mood to hear his self-righteous prattle. I didn't even know if I would keep things civilized at this point.
And, Tsuki sensei…. I couldn't believe the man. It was entirely unfair of him to try to make this entire thing my fault. After all, I wasn't the one who willfully chose the wrong route or try to get into the Intelligence Division despite my teammate's warnings. Just thinking about made my blood boil. I haven't been this angry since the day Danzo threatened Harami. Even Fujita taking a dig at Tsunade hadn't made me this angry. And I had beat the stuffing out of him for that…
I felt a hand land on my shoulder. I rounded angrily and shouted, "I said, not now. Don't you get it?"
Only to blink in confusion at seeing Kushina looking down at me with a smile. I saw Roku and Fujita a few steps back. Kushina saw me looking and turned to give them a smile, before turning to look at me with a bright smile. Only for that smile to falter, as she took in me.
"What happened?" she asked in concern.
"Nothing," I mumbled before trying to turn away.
She held me back and went down on her knees to give me a hug. The hug completely took me by surprise. I stood there stock still trying to process it. It felt really good for some reason. I took in a deep breath trying to anchor myself to that pleasant sensation.
"You look like shit… you eyes are red. And I know your eyes turn red only when you are very upset, want to talk about it?" she asked gently.
For a moment, I felt like ranting all my issues to her. But, before I could do that my mind registered her appearance. She was wearing her Chunin vest.
"You are leaving on a mission?" I enquired.
"Yeah silly, why else would I wear this damned thing," she laughed at me. "Mist has decided to join the fray. So, they are sending a few Jounins and Chunins in the village to assist people on the frontline."
"And they are sending you?" I asked unable to believe my eyes.
"Oi! Your nee san is an awesome Chunin," Kushina said in an offended voice.
"No, no. I just couldn't believe you are being deployed this soon," I tried to appease her.
The reason for my surprise was entirely different. The situation on the front lines must be even more dire than I imagined for them to deploy Kushina. You didn't deploy your Jinchuriki to scare off a few run-of-the-mill shinobi. The only reason for such a deployment is if you are in sore need of some devastating firepower.
"Don't worry, I will be back before you know it. And here are things I want you to practice in my absence. I will quiz you on them when I return," she offloaded a bunch of scrolls on me causing me to groan.
"Do I have to?" I sulked looking at the bulk of scrolls she had offloaded on me.
"Aw! You are cute… come, let me treat you before I leave." Kushina said ruffling my hair.
"Not Ramen again," I groaned….
"Hey, I won't be having Ramen for months," Kushina looked offended on behalf of her favorite food.
"Fine, fine," I said in defeat as she got up.
"Are you two coming?" Kushina asked my teammates looking at them.
"No, shinobi san. I wouldn't want to impose. You must spend time with your otutu," Roku graciously refused as she dragged Fujita away.
"We will meet tomorrow Roku," I called after her and saw her nod as Kushina dragged me to Ichiraku's.
(*****)
When the sixth bowl of Ramen (Kushina's, I was only on my second) was done, Kushina rubbed her stomach in content as she looked at me with concern. I pretended to be busy with my bowl, not wanting to initiate that particular conversation. Undaunted, Kushina spoke, "Do you wanna talk about it?"
I scowled into my bowl before muttering, "It's just my sensei being an ass, nothing much."
"Are you sure?" Kushina asked suspiciously. "I know you Hato kun. You don't get upset that easy. You are way too mature for your age."
"Nothing, just leave it," I said taking and finishing the bowl.
"You know, sometimes things might look really troublesome. Especially for someone like you, who is more mature than average kids of your age, but sometimes we have to take a step back and look at the issue from another angle."
I merely scowled at her in reply.
"Kushina," a voice called her from outside. She sighed and I nodded in understanding. It was time for her to leave.
"Anyways, take care. Work hard in my absence. And don't give that sensei of yours a hard time, I have heard that he is under a lot of pressure from the village to get your team in shape before you are sent out."
Kushina patted my head and gave me one last hug. I hugged her back as tightly as I could. While I knew she survived the war in the story, it didn't stop me from worrying for her.
"You too, take care. And don't pull any ridiculous stunts," I said to her as sternly a kid could manage. Because I could see Kushina doing exactly that.
"Brat," she flicked my head before bidding farewell to Teuchi san.
I watched her leave with a heavy heart. I hoped she survived just like she did in the story. If not, everything I know would be a moot point. After all, there would be no Naruto if Kushina died in the war. So, I was pretty sure she wouldn't kick the bucket. Yet, I could not help but feel a little worry for her.
"Don't worry, Hato kun. It would take the Shinigami himself to drag her to the afterlife," Teuchi san consoled me from beside the counter.
I smiled at the irony of the statement. True, it took the appearance of both Kyubi and Shinigami himself to drag her to the afterlife in the story. And yet, she found a way to contact Naruto years later. I shook my head of that somber thought and bid my farewell to Teuchi san. As I made my way home, I began mulling over what Kushina had said regarding my Tsuki sensei facing pressure from the village.
Maybe, I should go easy on Tsuki sensei. Now that I have calmed down, I could see the logic in Tsuki sensei's words. I should have tried harder to stop Fujita when he had walked to the window of the Intelligent Division. In a way, it was a petty thing to do. And he was right to point it out. Only, I had flipped the lid far earlier into the conversation. Maybe, he was going to reprimand Fujita after me. I wouldn't know that now, did I?
It was clear that I should work more on not letting my emotions get the better of me. At least, I shouldn't jump to conclusions. One more thing to take care of before I was sent to the front lines.
(*****)
Omake
Mokurimo Tsuki was having a bad day. The D-rank mission had turned into a fiasco. He knew better than anyone how sensitive information was guarded during wartime. It was a miracle in itself that Fujita kun wasn't dragged to a Yamanaka just to ensure that he hadn't heard anything he shouldn't.
He was still pissed off about the boy for acting so foolish. But, he could understand how a fresh academy graduate wouldn't think that much into it. Then again, if that Senju brat hadn't goaded him, Fujita wouldn't have done something so foolish.
But, he couldn't say it wasn't his fault either. He should have been more attentive as to how the situation was developing. He had become lax after staying in the village for so long. That was the only excuse he could think of to justify himself. And he himself knew that it was a very flimsy excuse.
And of all people, it had to be Orochimaru who had captured the boy. For few seconds he was sure Fujita kun was going to be thrown to T&I. He still shuddered thinking about it. And that mocking smile…. Just thinking about it, made his blood boil.
He knew very clearly that his position as the Jounin instructor for Team 27 was under much scrutiny. From Hokage to no-name civilians, everyone was interested in the progress of that Senju brat. He had been trying very hard to bring the other two in the team to the Senju brat's level so that team strength wouldn't be so skewed… At least, that is what he has been telling himself.
But, deep down he knew that he didn't care much whether that Senju brat lived or died. But, others did care. And they cared very much. Each and every incident would be looked under microscopically by a lot of people. He idly wondered what kind fallout this particular incident was going to cause.
He knew that there will be repercussions for this event. And it put him on edge. Frankly, if not for the Senju brat, this incident would have been termed as a slight misunderstanding. He could have even laughed it off as playing with the genin. But, no. He couldn't do that with the Senju brat on the team, could he?
He felt a headache forming just thinking about the quagmire of political ramifications of this small incident.
He had nearly wanted to throttle that Senju brat after that incident. If only he hadn't been that prideful and went after Fujita kun and explained to him, he was sure Fujita kun would have listened. Or if the Senju brat wasn't showing off at every opportunity, this situation would have never arisen.
He knew very well, that this incident was a culmination of a long list of grievances between Fujita and the Senju brat. Fujita kun's frustration with the Senju brat has been growing constantly in the last two months. But, he never expected such a thing to occur. And to his horror, it occurred far too quickly for him to do anything about it.
And what does the Senju brat do when he points out his mistakes, he tries to pin the entire incident on Fujita kun. And from the way he worded, it looked as if Fujita was entirely to blame. He very carefully omitted the part where he goaded the boy to do the act.
"Well, genius. Here is the building. Go, deliver the scroll and come."
He could still remember how Fujita kun has bristled at the mocking tone that the Senju brat had used. It had been the start of the fiasco. From there, one thing led to other and now he had a huge political incident on his hands. He should have realized something like this would happen from the evil smirk that the little demon had when Roku asked what was the problem. Even, he didn't expect Orochimaru to be in that room.
He was sure that little demon would have known with his sensing capabilities. The Senju brat had known who was in the room and set up Fujita to act foolishly. All because Fujita wouldn't agree to the route he suggested. That was one deviously manipulative mind. He was sure that neither he nor his friends were that devious at such a young age.
Still, he had to admit that Fujita kun's mentality was not yet to the standard of a proper genin. If he was goaded into doing reckless things like this in the field, it would lead to his death. He had been wanting to talk to him about this for some time, just didn't expect it to be on such an occasion.
And poor Roku chan, she was trying very hard to be a mediator between the two. He could only hope that she took his advice to heart and started standing up to the Senju brat more. If not…
His thoughts were disrupted by a knock to his door. Blinking up in confusion, he made his way to the door only to find the last person he wanted to see standing on his doorstep.
"Danzo sama,"
"Can I come in a bit to discuss a few things with you, Tsuki san?" Danzo sama asked and made his way into his house in the same breath.
While he would have like to shut the door in the elder's face, it would be highly inappropriate to do. Not to mention, the elder was one of the few highly respected veterans of the first and second war. He knew the elder's power just second only to the Hokage. There were even some whispers that he was commanding his own Anbu division these days.
"Tsuki san, I must say that I am disappointed with what I have heard from my sources. It seems that despite being a team for more than a month, there seems to be little progress when it comes to your team."
The elder said in a tight tone that indicated his displeasure.
"I assure you Danzo sama, it was a mere misunderstanding."
Tsuki had to restrain from shouting that it was that Senju brat's fault. He knew it wouldn't be well received.
"A misunderstanding…. You mean a possible eavesdropper when a discussion on really sensitive information regarding latest troop deployment was being conducted is merely that simple,"
Shit, this doesn't look good.
"I understand the gravity of the issue Danzo sama. But, I assure you that this was a mere misunderstanding between my genin that caused such a ruckus. I have reprimanded the person responsible for it."
"Explain," the elder stated in a monotone voice.
"Well,..." the look the elder granted him with made it clear that he wouldn't be leaving without a proper explanation. "Fujita kun and Hatorama kun have been on loggerheads recently. Fujita kun took Hatorama kun's words as sort of a challenge. Before I could intervene, things got out of hand."
If the glacial look the elder granted him with was anything to go by, he was sure that he wasn't doing a good job.
"My sources state that your genin refused to listen to his teammate's warnings and proceeded on his own. I am sure you understand how this rises alarm in me, considering the constitution of your team."
"I understand, Danzo sama," he replied trying to placate the elder.
"See to that your genin actually listens to his teammates in the future. If I were to find out that your coddling of your former teammates' progeny led to more problems, I assure you the repercussions will be severe."
"I assure that I am not coddling my genin, Danzo sama. I merely hoped that the two would work out their issues, without my intervention," he said a little testily.
The elder looked at him as if he didn't believe him. It rankled him a little to know that the elder was thinking he was coddling his former teammates' offsprings. Only he knew, how hard he has been pushing them.
"Unlike Hiruzen, I have been monitoring the boy's progress. And I have to say that I am disappointed with it, make sure you rectify it. Or else, Team 27 might be reassigned to a more capable Jounin," the elder said causing him to blanch.
"There will be no need for that, Danzo sama,"
"We will see about that. Make sure they don't hold him back," the elder said in a caustic tone before leaving his house
Tsuki looked at the retreating form of the elder with simmering anger. He knew he had to step things up a notch from now on. He could only hope that it wouldn't adversely affect Roku chan and Fujita kun.
It was all that Senju brat's fault…..